Simplicity
by beaucoup riant
Summary: He leans forward and kisses her on the forehead... His fingers hold the object gently and he presses them into her hand. "He got you the wrong flowers." CloTi Drabble series
1. If Not Lilies, Would They Be Just As Swe

**Simplicity**

**Author's Notes:** Inspired by **"The Soft Spot" by Horky**, I decided to try it myself. It's more to let out my muse because it's been keeping me up late at night with all sorts of scenarios for my recent obsession, Cloud and Tifa. I didn't want to write a long story for every drama scene I play out in my head and I didn't want a bunch of one shots littering my page. So here is a combination of both.

It goes the same way as Horky's. In your reviews, you can leave me: a prompt, a challenge, a scene you want played out, a setting, a song, _something_, and I'll write it with the romance of Cloud and Tifa. I'll add some of my own.

**Summary: **What kinda flowers suit a girl like Tifa?

**Notes:** Italics here mean thoughts. You can interpret this to be AU or not.

Tifa's favorite flowers were lilies. It was strange because a girl like Tifa didn't seem to match with lilies. Why?

Because they were Aeris's favorite flowers. And everyone who has ever known the two women knew that they had nothing in common but their ability to attract everyone to like them. To the core, the two women were different.

_I mean Tifa's eyes are red, Aeris's eyes were green. They're complimentary colors for a reason!_

While Aeris wore all pink, Tifa wore all dark colors. Aeris was the girly girl, Tifa was the tomboy. And while Aeris preferred the pacifist approach to solving a problem, Tifa mainly resorted to her fists to solve a problem. The girl in pink would be outgoing while Tifa mainly resorted to being a keen observer to understand a person before she approached them. They seemed so different.

Aeris was all seemingly innocent. She seemed to match a flower easy to approach, pure white, need of much care, and seemed to outshine everyone. Tifa was a girl who seemed like a flower with thorns. For Tifa, a flower that blended in relatively easy in the background but when found seemed to be more beautiful than the ones that stand out. Her flower wouldn't be white either, it would be red. It would be red not because Tifa was stained with blood, but because it represented the passion she has for the things she cares for, the fury she burns in her fists when she's fighting, and of course, her eyes.

Thus, Cloud found it strange, for in all the years he and Tifa has dated, he has found it strange to buy her lilies for any occasion. Up until now, he _has_ bought her lilies. It wasn't because he agreed that her favorite flowers should be lilies, like Aeris, but because it was the only flower he knew his girlfriend liked. And what kind of boyfriend would he be if he bought the girl he's in love with a bunch of flowers she might not even like?

Still, as Cloud traveled from work and back, he found himself on the lookout at the flower vendors for any type of flower more suited for Tifa. He would travel briskly but upon seeing the sight of flowers, he would halt. Now he wasn't going to briefly gaze at the flowers, he looked into every bunch in hopes of finding a flower suited for his girl. Remember, Tifa's flower, in Cloud's opinion, blended in but when found, seemed only better than those that shine brightly.

_Why couldn't Tifa tell me her favorite flowers were anything __**but**__ lilies, just so my life could be easier instead of looking for flowers?!_

The day Cloud did manage to find a flower most suited for Tifa was hectic. It was Valentine's Day! And every florist he has gone to had run out of the white lilies that Tifa [and Aeris] liked. Of course when he asked who had bought all the lilies, they described his best friend, Zack Fair. Cloud cursed his best friend.

_I mean it's Valentine's Day and he can't leave a single flower vendor with a bouquet of lilies for the rest of us whose girlfriends love lilies?!_

Of course, there were always good reasons. Zack decided he must have a hundred bouquet of white lilies for this special day because he was going to propose to the girl he loved. This meant he has gone to at least every florist in a five mile radius to fulfill his request.

Cloud was running out of time. It was almost six and he still had to go back home to change and pick up Tifa for their date. He needed flowers! There was only one more florist before he was out of options.

No luck. No lilies. Cloud almost screamed. He cursed Zack Fair once again. He also cursed the fact that Tifa had to like lilies!

However as he was about to storm angrily out of the flower vendor, he stopped. He had been quickly thinking that he could drive for a few minutes out of town to buy a bouquet of flowers and be a few minutes late to pick up Tifa, or rush to get ready to pick up Tifa. There, he agonizingly stared into the plethora of flowers stacked unevenly against a wall.

There, Cloud found a flower that seemed to match Tifa.

It was red, not deep like blood but light enough that it reminded him of a ruby in the light. It was sprinkled a little with gold flecks. The way the petals were arranged reminded him a little of the lilies Aeris liked. They had been blending in with the masses of roses, violets, lilies, and god knows what else.

Cloud reached over and pricked himself on the stem as he pulled the flower out of its container. It had thorns!

_I didn't want to go on my date with some cut on my hand like some pansy!_

He ordered a bouquet and asked what kind of flower it was.

"Oh it's just some type of lily. Not a lot of people buy these kind of flowers but they smell really good." The cashier replied.

Cloud smiled when he was handed the bouquet. His search was over! He has finally found the flower most suited! And it was a flower no one seemed to buy because there was no other girl in the world like Tifa.

_They're lilies! They will fit in with what Tifa likes…it just has a twist in a favor I like!_

**Notes:** I don't know what kind of flower that is. I made it up. Hope you enjoyed!


	2. Something as Complicated as War

**Summary: **Sometimes cleaning out somewhere can lead to finding the treasures that holds your dreams.

Upset Tifa usually cleaned. She often did her cleaning when the kids were off at school. They'd always question why she was cleaning in a bar already cleaned. She also cleaned when the bar was closed because customers always pointed out a particular table and chair in the corner that had not been cleaned.

But the reason why she was cleaning today was because that particular table and chair in the corner was driving her nuts. She had been avoiding cleaning it. It was the place he always sat when he was home and the bar was open. He would sit there, sipping a beer, watching her for reasons she didn't really quite understand.

She wanted to clean it, she needed to clean it. It was collecting dust. If she cleaned it, she wouldn't have to remember him anymore. She would feel that by cleaning it, she would be effectively cleaning away her memory of him as well. Tifa was determined this morning that she approached the area first. She didn't want doubt to creep in just when she had finally mustered the courage to do it.

Tifa decided to avoid looking at it for too long. She forced her mind to make it seem like it was simply a regular chair and small table. After all, it didn't really scream CLOUD! She set the dust pan down and began sweeping underneath and around the chair and table.

Seeing herself actually clean it brought more courage to finally finish the task. After setting the broom and dust pan back in the closet, she took a wet rag. Tifa launched the rag on the table. She didn't want to give herself any time to think about the task. She wiped the table first and finally pulled out the chair where he always sat.

That was where Tifa's cleaning stopped.

It wasn't because the phone rang and she had to pick it up. It wasn't because she had to go wet the rag again. It wasn't because Marlene and Denzel were home. It was because the moment she pulled out the chair, something fell onto the floor in front of her feet that stopped her heart.

It was a small square velvet box. It looked worn, as if it had been toyed with and been carried by the person for a long time. It also had been collecting dust like her memories of him. How long had she seen his face? Were her memories of his square jaw, his crazy blonde hair, and the piercing light blue eyes accurate anymore? Had her memories of him been misted over with her dreams? It looked as if a memory had been pulled from a dream and put into real life.

Tifa took the box from the floor with shaking fingers. She blew the dust off the velvet. How long had this been here? She opened it. Despite the dullness of the bar with its dim lights and the worn velvet that was rough against her bare fingertips, and the small yellowing of the satin cushioning the jewelry it held, the ring sparkled. Tifa's heart was pounding now, she felt like she was going to have a heart attack. Each beat was pulsing in her air and she felt that each breath she took was a struggle.

A ring. A beautiful white gold ring with a big white pearl set in the center. It was complimented with two small rubies, cut into the shapes of a heart on both sides of the jewel. Tifa licked her dry lips but felt they gained no moisture. She looked back at the seat from where it had fallen. There, tucked away, was an envelope.

_Tifa,_

_I remember when I saw this, I just knew I had to buy it. It's been a long time. I remember how I promised you I'd be your hero, to save you whenever you were in trouble. Truth it, you were always the hero, saving me when I was in trouble. You brought back my memories that had been long gone. You gave me back myself. From the days of Avalanche, I knew I was in love with you. _

_But so much happened, so many things made it seem like there was never a right time to give you this. So I'm leaving this here in hopes you'll find it someday. I'm leaving it here so that when you do find it, it's the right time to give this to you. And hopefully when you find it, it isn't when the world is in danger of dying or a war isn't going to start. _

_Tifa…I love you. Can we be each other's heroes? Can we just be together in something just as complicated, but more beautiful than, as a war such as love? I want to be your best friend, your hero, yor lover, and your husband._

_Tifa, marry me._

A sob. Tears were making tracks along her face and staining the letter she held in her hand. Tifa didn't know what happened next but she was dialing a familiar string of numbers.

She was calling someone she knew would not pick up. But she needed to say it, she had to say it to a voice despite that it was recorded.

"You've reached Strife Delivery service. Leave a message."

Tifa inhaled and exhaled deeply to stop the shaking of her voice she knew would be there. She tried to stifle her tears.

"Cloud…"

Speaking his name brought vivid memories back all at once. How could she ever forget?

"I found it." She said, as she stared at the ring again. "I'm wearing it. But you won't get an answer from me until you come back to say it yourself." She told him with a sad smile.

"I love you so I can wait until the end of the world." She told him.

**Notes: **Done! This was pretty cute. It's up to you to decide whether or not Cloud is alive or not! Review please! You should leave me: a prompt, a challenge, a scene you want played out, a setting, a song, _something_, and I'll write it with the romance of Cloud and Tifa. Give me a challenge!


	3. New Divide

**Simplicity**

**Author's Notes:** Thanks for all the reviews! I enjoyed some of the prompts you've given. This is going to be my summer project! Which means I'll be updating quite a lot. I want to write 128 chapters!

Anyways I think this one will be the last of my own prompts before I start writing stories in response to the prompts and challenges given to me by my reviewers. Again thanks for all those who review, whether or not they leave a challenge or not. I still enjoy reading the reviews. =]

**Summary: **New Divide

**Notes:** Songfic: "New Divide"- Linkin Park are in Italics

He has hidden himself up on the roof. He had come home late, suffocating with thoughts. A storm was coming because the skies were darker, full of dark clouds looming over him. The clouds were gathering but through the cracks of where they were weak, Cloud could see small streams of moonlight.

He blended in rather well. He was wearing his black sleeveless cable knit turtle neck and baggy black jeans. The darkness of the night seemed to be where he belonged. The only thing that struck out was his spiky blonde hair that ruffled a little in the wind and his strange beautiful blue eyes.

Cloud stared out in front of him. He could see the broken city beneath him, stretching until it disappeared into nothing but a desert. Lightening broke the silence of the night, sending a blade of light throughout the night.

_I remembered black skies / the lightning all around me  
I remembered each flash / as time began to blur  
Like a startling sign / that fate had finally found me  
And your voice was all I heard  
That I get what I deserve_

Thoughts began to filter its way to his conscious, forcing him to be aware of the thoughts that once suffocated him. It has been so long, everyone could see that. Years has passed, and with that everyone has begun to age. It's been so many years since Aeris passed away. However many more years has passed since he started to realize the feelings Tifa had for him.

Cloud was tormented. Each time he has made his resolve to finally fall into his feelings, his love, memories flash before his eyes. Aeris died because he failed to protect her. He knew that he could never let Tifa die, especially if it was because it was his lack of competence in protecting her.

But her voice, her beautiful voice, invaded each doubt his mind tormented him with. Cloud has heard her say it time after time, and he wondered when he could start to believe what she said. He wondered if the truth, the deep sincerity she said it with, could finally reach him to break him free. How many more times?

_  
So give me reason / to prove me wrong / to wash this  
memory clean  
Let the floods cross the distance in your eyes  
Give me reason / to fill this hole / connect the space  
between  
Let it be enough to reach the truth that lies  
Across this new divide_

Cloud hasn't been able to face much of Tifa lately. How could he when all he wanted to do was kiss her but run away at the same time? It takes so much of his effort to even stay here and to come home each night. A coward, that's what he was.

Aeris's death has scarred him. It has built a thick wall, preventing all healing. It was a self imposed wall because he believed he deserved the torment and the guilt for letting her down. He needed a reason now, to get over the high wall he has built around himself.

It became a wall that he has lost sight of where it began and where it ended. It became so tall he felt it consumed his whole world. It was cracked but always rebuilt, so much so that he was blinded to the things outside of it like other people's emotions and thoughts that could affect him.

_There was nothing in sight / but memories left  
abandoned  
There was nowhere to hide / the ashes fell like snow  
And the ground caved in / between where we were  
standing  
And your voice was all I heard  
That I get what I deserve  
_

However each time she said that particular statement, he found bigger cracks in the wall around his heart. They became cracks he could not build over and heal. They became so big that he could see through the holes of a world he has tried to cut himself off from. He could see Denzel and Marlene and the sadness each time he left because they always believed that he would not be coming back.

Through those cracks, he allowed himself to think and feel when he remembered happy moments he had, at the time, been emotionless at. Through those cracks, he could vividly remember events that he had stood on the sidelines. Events such as Yuffie turning twenty, the wedding of Cid and Shera, birthday parties, and so much more that he feels he has missed living in.

Through those cracks on his wall, he could see how far Tifa and he has become. She was so far away from him. She seemed as if a star in his skies, galaxies away but still visible to him. Before, Cloud might've guessed that there was a bridge built between her world and his. But through those cracks in which he has stayed in the walls of his heart for so long, he could finally see the destruction his negligence has brought upon.

The bridge was cracked. It was old and broken like his wall. It seemed so fragile that Cloud wondered if he had managed to tear apart the path that lead to his happiness and the healing of his heart and the fulfillment of his dreams. And the bridge only seemed to lead to a star that was slowly losing its shimmer and glow.

_  
So give me reason / to prove me wrong / to wash this  
memory clean  
Let the floods cross the distance in your eyes  
Across this new divide_

It was odd. The sight of this only made him more hopeless but it always gave him a surge of hope. It was because it seemed that the bridge to Tifa was still intact and opened was because she still wanted him. It seemed strong, despite its decayed state, because it was strong enough to endure.

And many things in Cloud's life could not endure the whirlwind of his life.

So caught up in his thoughts, Cloud did not notice the reopening of the window that led him to the roof.

_  
In every loss / in every lie  
In every truth that you'd deny  
And each regret / and each goodbye  
was a mistake to great to hide  
And your voice was all I heard  
That I get what I deserve_

A presence beside him shook him from his thoughts. Ironically, it was the woman who had been keeping his thoughts focused on her. Each time he saw her, he felt as if the walls were breaking in an earthquake. His legs felt the desire to run but his heart wanted to stay where he was: next to her.

Tifa looked at him only briefly before staring at the sky. Thunder cracked the sky again. They sat in a long pause. They sat side by side, Cloud looking at Tifa from the corner of his eyes. It was as if the world was holding its breath, just waiting for the moment when the two of them would open their mouths to talk to each other.

The earth must've lost its patience because it began to weep. Still, Cloud and Tifa sat side by side. The earthquake in his mind did not stop. It continued to shake and shake until he could see more and more of the road to Tifa. He wondered if it was enduring.

Suddenly, Tifa turned to him. A shot of lightening in the background reflected in her eyes as he turned to stare at her. She leaned forward and he held his breath. Rain was kissing her skin and lingered on her lips, as if wanting to kiss them for much longer. She was so close to him that he could feel the warmth of her breath on his cool wet skin.

She smiled at him and he felt like the sun had come out. "It'll be alright one day, Cloud." She said. Her eyes softened. "One day, you'll stop hurting because you'll be able to forgive yourself."

And finally, he knew it was coming…that statement.

"I love you." Tifa said to him.

And in a blink of an eye, Cloud had plunged forward through the cracks of his divide. In a blink of an eye, his lips met hers in a wet but passionate kiss. Because the road to her was old and broken and fragile, but it endured.

__

So give me reason / to prove me wrong / to wash this  
memory clean  
Let the floods cross the distance in your eyes  
Give me reason / to fill this hole / connect the space  
between  
Let it be enough to reach the truth that lies  
Across this new divide 

**Notes:**

Requests so far:

If Not Lilies, Would They Be Just As Sweet?

Something as Complicated As War

New Divide

QueenAhems- Household pests

xXxAutumnRainxXx - Coming home by Stratovarius

xtearsdontfallx - Early Morning by Alesana


	4. Mice vs Tifa makes Cloud the victor

**Simplicity**

**Author's Notes:** Thanks for all the reviews! I hope you enjoy each one-shot. At the end of this chapter is another updated version of requests. Keep in mind, I'm not going in any particular order. I'm writing the one shots in response to the requests whenever I find a story to fit. I've also added some of my own ideas inside.

This is based on a true story since I'm also afraid of these things, up until I had to dissect them for two weeks. I think I got over it a little bit more.

**Summary: **Household pests

**For: **QueenAhems

They were sitting on the living room couch, in front of the television. Tifa and Cloud sat closely together. Her legs were swung over his thighs. Cloud had pulled her close to his side, cradling her there with his arms wrapped around her waist. Tifa's head of long ebony hair rested on his broad shoulders and her arms were also wrapped around his waist. Their late night dinner laid in front of them on the coffee table as they watched a popular tv show late at night.

The room was brightly light. They were enjoying each other's company in the quiet when Tifa suddenly spotted a large black blur. She pulled away from his arms and leaned forward. The black blur started to move furiously across the room and it was followed promptly by a tail. She didn't need to see it clearly to know what it was.

The quiet night was broken by a scream. Cloud sat up anxiously, looking around the room for anything that might've scared her. Tifa lept back into his arms, screaming rat rat rat. He was dumbfounded.

Strong Tifa, who could fight monsters and beat guys to a bloody pulp, was reduced to a screaming woman for fear of mice. Cloud inwardly smiled. So she was human after all. After much convincing, Cloud took their dinner plates into the kitchen and left them to be washed tomorrow.

Tifa had refused to move. She sat rigidly on the couch, with her legs drawn up to avoid touching the ground. When Cloud came back into the living room and asked if she was ready for bed, she did not get up. He was further amused when Tifa pleaded for him to carry her to the stairs.

"Cloud, mice can't go upstairs! Please, Cloud! Take me to the stairs and I'll walk up! It'll come out again, really!"

He chuckled at the irrationality of it. But he found it so cute. He complied and lifted her easily into his arms. Tifa thanked him and hugged him before she looked warily around for more black blurs. Cloud couldn't stop grinning.

He carried her past the stairs, much to her confusion, and deposited her into his bed. Tifa questioned his actions.

Cloud looked down at the beautiful woman he loved sitting in his bed, no longer afraid of mice because she believed they could not get her on the second floor.

"The rats won't be able to get you if I'm right here with you." Cloud told her.

And that's how Cloud used rats to get Tifa to sleep in his bed with him every night. Every other week he would see a black blur pass by and Tifa would wind up in his bed. He didn't mind of course. He wanted more mice to be in the house if she could be in his arms every night in fear of tiny creatures that were nothing compared to the big monsters she punched.

**Notes:** Requests so far:

1. If Not Lilies, Would They Be Just As Sweet?

2. Something as Complicated As War

3. New Divide

4. QueenAhems- Household pests

5. xXxAutumnRainxXx - Coming home by Stratovarius

6. xtearsdontfallx - Early Morning by Alesana

7. Jazzele- Jealousy in the Bar

8. Warangel88- Cloud disguised as a Shinra solider during destruction of hometown

9. Too Late, Cheater


	5. Not a Funny Guy

**Summary: **Jealousy in the Bar

**For: **Jazzele

Cloud sat in his usual spot. He watched as Barret and a customer was having a drinking contest. He smirked a little as Yuffie and Cid bantered, as Shera tried to mediate between the two. Seventh Heaven was a packed bar, more than usual. It was full of chaos, more so than normal because of the AVALANCHE members throwing their own little party to the countless customers that drifted in and out of the bar daily.

She was wearing a dress, that looked as if it could've been a sweater too long for her. It was off the shoulders, giving a beautiful view of her porcelain skin whenever the light hit it. It was a nice deep red color, knitted and down to her mid thighs. Her hair was let down and she wore hoop earrings. She had opted for matching red flats since she was working that night.

Cloud watched as his best friend walked around the bar, handing out drinks and flirting lightly with customers. He watched as she giggled at the sight of Yuffie and Cid. He watched as she put a stop to the drinking contest Barret was having. He watched as Tifa put the drink Nankai ordered.

As Tifa walked past him, she sent him a smile that made him feel flush. She continued working behind the bar since the customers had finally settled down.

What made Cloud's blood boil was a man who came to the edge of the bar. Tifa tended to him immediately. The man had short brown hair spiked a little. He was taller than Cloud was. He looked much more muscular than he was. And through the loud noise of the music Tifa had put on, it seemed as if the presence of this man commanded attention. The body of this man blocked out significantly Cloud's view of Tifa.

All he could see was half of her. He could see her laughing at whatever joke the man made. She had her ankles crossed out behind her. She was leaning on one elbow on the countertop, giving him and much to his dismay, the man, a nice view of the tops of her cleavage and the peaks of her shoulders. Her ruby eyes sparkled in the laughter with her mouth.

Cloud didn't like this. He looked around to see if anyone was going to put an end to another customer bugging their favorite girl. Unfortunately for Cloud, the masses of people that had accumulated in the bar's most busy night while his attention was focused on the girl of his dreams, had more than doubled. The sight of the members of AVALANCHE had been blended in with the crowd, even Barret with his hard to forget body.

Thus Cloud was left alone.

He turned his attention back to Tifa and the man. He could feel anger twisting at his guts. Tifa seemed as if she was enjoying the company of this man. Cloud pondered on how many times he had said something that made his childhood friend laugh. He came up with no such memory. Yes, she gave him her bright smiles, but otherwise nothing.

Suddenly, the man with brown hair put a hand on Tifa's bare shoulder. It caressed the skin beneath his fingertips and Cloud felt a surge of hot anger burning through him. He abruptly stood up. But in the next moment, the man had turned around and left with a wave good-bye to Tifa.

Cloud stood there awkwardly for a few minutes before slowly sitting back down. His eyes searched for the man he deemed too dangerous to let near his childhood friend again. He almost growled each time he saw a man that would come close to resembling the enemy.

His attention was pulled from the crowd when a giggle erupted in front of him. A soft weight settled onto his lap and arms wrapped around his neck. He turned his attention to see ruby eyes, glinting with amusement.

"Oh Cloud, you're so cute when you're jealous." She said. His reply was a growl. Promptly after, their lips were sealed.

"Howcome you don't laugh at anything I say?" Cloud asked after pulling away a little. He chose to ignore her giggle from earlier.

"You're just not a funny guy." She said before pulling his head closer to hers for another kiss.

**Notes:** I know the guy sounds a lot like Zack but that was my intention. Requests so far:

1. If Not Lilies, Would They Be Just As Sweet? **Check**

2. Something as Complicated As War **Check**

3. New Divide **Check**

4. QueenAhems- Household pests **Check**

5. xXxAutumnRainxXx - Coming home by Stratovarius

6. xtearsdontfallx - Early Morning by Alesana

7. Jazzele- Jealousy in the Bar **Check**

8. Warangel88- Cloud disguised as a Shinra solider during destruction of hometown

9. Too Late, Cheater

10. I'll Give You My Light


	6. Something Solid

**Notes: **I wanted to try a new style of writing so expect to see styles like this sometimes in chapters. It's inspired by "Fire in the Sky". There's lots of symbolism in this one! =]

**Summary:** Something Solid in this black

Eyes of the sea, eyes of the sky, eyes of this depth of blue find that this doesn't belong.

It's in this hallow nothingness of whispering voices. Claws of air. The floating, floating, floating. Lost at sea. Nothing found is at place here. Here or here. No matter how far you tread in this ocean, sky, depth of blue, all things found seem to be pieces of all different puzzles.

He's looking for pieces of one puzzle. Himself. Broken yet alive. He can not find his voice in this depth of whispering voices. Spinning, spinning, spinning. Everything looks the same. Nothing looks the same.

_Cloud, Cloud…_

There. There. A voice he knows. Untouchable, an unobtainable piece to his puzzle. Is it his voice? No, no. Wrong, wrong. His name. a tag to the puzzle.

This hallow nothing spins to waves of colors. Green, black, white, and red. Running forwards feels like running down. Green for power. Black for fear. White for guilt. Red, red, red. Blood on steel. Soft velvet pressed against his. Warmth in orbs.

Red, heat. Red, pain. So much red. And there and there, in fragments he can't recognize, there is something solid. Solid in this broken view. Short and slim. A mix of colors. Long black against a figure of white. Dots of red splattered. Solid, solid, solid. He rushes for it. Dives for it. Attempts to grasps it, something sloid in this floating. An anchor.

He grazes it and falls through it. Grey hazy clouds. Floating, floating, floating. He dives blindly. An anchor, an anchor!

_Cloud, Cloud…_

_TIFA, TIFA, TIFA!_

He surges. Through the mud he comes up with bated breath. Red on the moon in a black sky embraces him. Warmth in a night sky. _Tifa._

Here, the colors stay constant. Here is two whispering voices. Breathe, breathe, breathe. He grasps cool but finds warmth. His anchor.

Because in the floating depths of his mind, the view of a moon is the sunrise to a new day. His home, an anchor.

**Notes:** I know the guy sounds a lot like Zack but that was my intention. Requests so far:

1. If Not Lilies, Would They Be Just As Sweet? **Check**

2. Something as Complicated As War **Check**

3. New Divide **Check**

4. QueenAhems- Household pests **Check**

5. xXxAutumnRainxXx - Coming home by Stratovarius

6. xtearsdontfallx - Early Morning by Alesana

7. Jazzele- Jealousy in the Bar **Check**

8. Warangel88- Cloud disguised as a Shinra solider during destruction of hometown

9. Too Late, Cheater

10. I'll Give You My Light

11. Kisdota-The Freak Gamer- Family yielding Cloud's sword

12. Something solid **Check**


	7. Break of a Cycle

**Notes: **It took a while to manage to find a good story to fit the lyrics but I've done it. Here, the lyrics are the more "solid" story to tell it. It does relate and correlate to everything that is written after it. It's in that new style I mentioned before. Although I supposed to looks less broken. But I'll leave it to you to figure out what's happening.

**Summary:** She's gone and he's moving forward in place. It's the breaking of a cycle at goodbye.

Early Morning- by Alesana

**For: **xtearsdontfallx

_Last night I forgot how the sound your voice whispered sweet  
Goodbyes, your eyes left to die  
I'm alone too  
I don't stand why_

Alone, he's alone. This is not so different than before. Always alone. It's changed though. Recent. Tifa kept him from it. Being alone. Even alone in some church, he was not alone. Voices in his head. Now it is the silence that he's been yearning for. Now he doesn't want to stay alone. He wants to hear the voices in his head.

Sane but insane.

_Why not one more night  
one last kiss good bye  
my sweet love tonight  
I hope the stars still spell out your name where you are..._

He wants more. Everyone wants more. He can be the same. He's tired of being so different. He wants to be human. No more of this hero stuff. He wants another night, day, minute, hour. He can appreciate her more. Only in another moment.

She belongs in the stars. She's the light on dark velvet. He is selfish. Everyone is selfish. He wants her to be his star. The light in his dark.

_Kiss my closings eyes  
Help me sleep without you I'm so lost  
Tonight I cry  
Tell me why  
I can't live without your warm embrace_

Help! Help! He's lost. He is awake in a dream, a nightmare. Shivers chill his spine. No fire can light him. He can not burn anymore. There is no heat left. No light. Just plunging down again. He's always down anyways.

_Why not one more night  
one last kiss good bye  
my sweet love tonight  
I hope the stars still spell out your name where you are..._

Once more. Once more is what he wants. She'll understand. She'll know. She always knows, long before he gets a clue.

_I close my eyes and you are everything I see  
Goodbye_

Hello, hello. Goodbye, goodbye. Cycles that go. She's gone. The cycle pauses. It pauses at goodbye. How fast until it goes again? Hello, goodbye.

_Goodbye to you my love  
I will forget you  
I'll see you soon  
Goodbye my love  
Goodbye to you my love  
I will forget you  
Let me live_

Trudge forward. Unforgivable. Unobtainable. Moving forward in place. His love gone. He'll forget since he'll focus on the sadness. It's the weight that pulls them from reuniting. It's the break of the cycle. No more hello, only goodbye, goodbye.

**Notes:** Keep the requests up!

1. If Not Lilies, Would They Be Just As Sweet? **Check**

2. Something as Complicated As War **Check**

3. New Divide **Check**

4. QueenAhems- Household pests **Check**

5. xXxAutumnRainxXx - Coming home by Stratovarius

6. xtearsdontfallx - Early Morning by Alesana **Check**

7. Jazzele- Jealousy in the Bar **Check**

8. Warangel88- Cloud disguised as a Shinra solider during destruction of hometown

9. Too Late, Cheater

10. I'll Give You My Light

11. Kisdota-The Freak Gamer- Family yielding Cloud's sword

12. Something solid **Check**


	8. Swords

**Notes: **Massive update!

**Summary:** When Cloud is gone, Denzel and Marlene will play.

**For: **Kisdota- The Freak Gamer

Normally at nine thirty at night, the children are asleep. Tonight, they are sneaking around in their room and playing with toys, stifling their laughter so not to get caught. They can hear Cloud downstairs at the bar, eating quietly. Denzel and Marlene both know that Tifa has gone out tonight to buy some supplies.

"I'm bored." Marlene says to her playmate. She drops her dolls onto the ground, looking around the darkened room for anything more interesting to play with.

Denzel looks around as well. He finds that everything in the room has been played with, whether it was during the day or just a few moments ago, it doesn't matter. There is nothing new in the room to play for the day. Suddenly he thinks of a great idea.

"Hey Mar…"

Marlene looks at him with wide eyes. Her eyebrow is lifted in question.

"How long do you think Cloud will take to finish eating" Denzel asked.

Marlene looked up in thought, her fingers drumming against her chin. Cloud just started his meal. He would eat Tifa's home cooked meal slowly and then he'll take the time to wash whatever dishes remained in the sink. He might even sit down at the bar and sip a beer to wait for Tifa to come back home. She shrugged when she came up with an answer. "Something like an hour."

Denzel nodded. The gears in his head are working. An hour is plenty long enough to play. There was even a sufficient enough time to get in and out of this room in a quiet manner and into Cloud's room. They would play there until either they were tired or until they heard someone coming, whichever came first.

He stood up and headed towards the door. He creaked it open and popped his head out through the crack. He strained to listen for the movements of a very quiet man. "Let's go Marlene!" He whispered, waving his hand.

"Where are we going?"

"To Cloud's room."

"Why?" She asked him and despite the fact that he had yet to answer her, she followed him out the door of their bedroom and into the hall. They crossed the narrow hall and into their male guardian's room.

They arrive in the dark room. Denzel reaches for the small lamp on Cloud's messy desk, where piles of paper rested. The light manages to become a spotlight to the object of Denzel's mind. It takes up an entire corner of the room where Cloud has propped it carefully against. Denzel turns to Marlene who is curiously watching him.

"If I can lift up Cloud's sword, then I'll grow up to be just like him."

"Yeah right! You're much smaller than Cloud, you'll never be able to even lift it up from the floor!" Marlene hisses at him. Her eyes dart between the sword and Denzel.

"I can too! I'm two years older than you and much bigger. Besides I'm almost as tall as Cloud! At least I can do it, you wouldn't be able to since you're a girl!" He retorts.

Marlene glares at him and releases an angry puff of air. "I'm a strong girl, just like Tifa!"

Denzel decides not to respond, since she's right about Tifa. He walks over to the sword and carefully edges it down to the floor. When it is standing up, it is too tall for him to be able to reach the hilt.

"Bet you can't do it." Marlene taunts. She crosses her arms and sits on Cloud's narrow bed. She is still upset with Denzel.

He kneels down and his hands wrap around the cloth covered hilt. He can feel the imprints of a set of bigger hands, ones that belong to his hero. He lifts up and his legs straighten out until he's standing. It's hard to get up, it is as if there has become too much gravity and it is weighing him down. He has managed to raise half of the sword up yet the very tip of it still remained on the ground.

Denzel heaves up with his hands. Still the sword doesn't budge. His face is starting to turn red. The sword doesn't move. It is heavy!

Marlene watches him and finally gets up from her position in bed and strides over. She grabs a hold of the hilt behind Denzel and lifts with all her might.

There! They got it up! They're balancing it between the two and the sword looks like it was levitating since it is impossible for the children to lift it up anymore.

The help Marlene provided leads to an argument.

"See I told you I could lift it up!"

"You only could because I had already lifted it halfway!" Denzel shouts. They have forgotten the rule to be quiet.

"Well it isn't like you lifted it either!"

And they start taking steps back, their hands and bodies still lifting the sword up. They turn to face each other, shouting.

"You couldn't do it without me!"

"No, you couldn't do it without me!"

And then in the next moment there was a loud crash and the sword got heavier. Marlene and Denzel let out a yelp and immediately dropped the sword. It thudded onto the ground and resonated in their ears painfully.

Thundering steps come along and the children look at each other. Their mouths are hanging open and their eyes wide. They have forgotten the rule to be quiet and now they were going to get caught! Worst, they thought, when they turned their head, they were going to be killed! The sword they had been carrying had dropped was still attached to the wall they had stabbed through by accident. It has left a long scar down on the wall. Tifa was going to murder them!

"What's going on here?!" Tifa shouted.

Tifa looks at the wall in horror. Cloud comes up behind her, peeks over her shoulder and groans. Tifa goes inside and takes the kids out while Cloud picks up the sword with amazing ease from the wall and props it back to where he had left it prior to the disruption.

Hours later and quite a lot of explaining, Denzel and Marlene end up grounded. They look down to the ground ashamed as they walk back up to their rooms. Cloud and Tifa sigh and sit together at the bar, nursing a bottle of vodka between them.

"That's going to take some money to fix that up." Cloud mentioned, already thinking of how many deliveries he would have to make to compensate for the loss.

"Not to mention how ugly the wall is going to look with a line of plaster on it. I hope you don't mind." Tifa replies. He shrugs in response. "What were they thinking anyways? Playing with your sword?"

Cloud doesn't answer and they sit in companionable silence. Suddenly Tifa lets out a laugh.

"Why do you have to have a big sword anyways? Are you trying to look taller with that giant sword attached to your back?"

He gapes at her.

"Or are you trying to compensate for something you're lacking, hm, Cloud?" Her eyes are teasing and she bursts out laughing. She leans over the bar and kisses him hard. She winks and tells him: "You know I don't really know what the fuss is about, your size is very satisfying as it is."

And he can only bury his head in his hands as he fights a blush while she laughs at his expense.

**Notes:** Any requests? Have an idea and you want me to write it? Send me a review with the request and it'll be fulfilled!

1. If Not Lilies, Would They Be Just As Sweet? **Check**

2. Something as Complicated As War **Check**

3. New Divide **Check**

4. QueenAhems- Household pests **Check**

5. xXxAutumnRainxXx - Coming home by Stratovarius

6. xtearsdontfallx - Early Morning by Alesana **Check**

7. Jazzele- Jealousy in the Bar **Check**

8. Warangel88- Cloud disguised as a Shinra solider during destruction of hometown

9. Too Late, Cheater

10. I'll Give You My Light

11. Kisdota-The Freak Gamer- Family yielding Cloud's sword **Check**

12. Something solid **Check**

13. Kisdota- The Freak Gamer- Story of Cloud as a woman


	9. Too Late, Cheater

**Notes: **This is an AU.

**Summary:** If he could, he would take it all back because it would mean he could tell her he loved her and see her smile, kiss her, and hold her.

**Warning:** Mature content. Character death. Hints of rape.

He navigates carefully on the snow covered streets late at night. He doesn't push the speed because he is not at all in a hurry to get home. As he stops at a red light, he wonders if Tifa would be angry that he didn't pick up on her phone call again. The blonde sighs because he knows she wouldn't be angry but simply hurt.

Cloud, a man of twenty four with spiky blonde hair and striking blue eyes, found himself wondering why he kept hurting his girlfriend. He loved her, there was no doubt about it, yet his actions often proved otherwise.

Outside of his apartment building complex, police cars and an ambulance line the street. Confusion enters him and then he shrugs it off, thinking maybe it might've been a prank call. He brushes past the officers and heads up to his apartment. Cloud's brow furrows when police keep coming down. His heart hammers when he starts to think that perhaps, they're coming down from his apartment.

He swallows and shakes his head. Tifa could take care of herself and nothing was wrong. That's what he told himself. But still, Cloud found himself pumping his legs faster to get up the stairs. His mind was reeling. Things were perfectly fine. He pats his phone in his pocket; she just called him merely two hours ago. Nothing could happen in that time to her right?

He makes the last step on his floor and his heart stops. Police _were_ coming from his apartment. His mind blanks and Cloud finds himself running towards the open door. Police push him back and he screams at them. "That's my girlfriend!"

His girlfriend. Tifa. Suddenly as he sees her, he wishes he could've said that she was his wife.

The couches he and Tifa had spent months looking for were tattered and stained with blood. The floor he remembered her cleaning just yesterday held a pool of blood. Things were toppled over like picture frames and books.

Her legs were seen from behind the coffee table, a table pushed closely to the couch. She wasn't wearing any socks so he suspected that she had been home and in her pajamas for a while. She laid still and he found himself frozen.

There was blood on her legs and the silky blue nightgown she wore had been torn to shreds. Cloud could remember her wearing that blue nightgown on the night of his birthday two years ago to seduce him. His mind quickly wondered why she was suddenly wearing it again.

"Tifa…"

Her eyes were closed and her face held a bruise on her left cheek. Her lips were dry and there was a stain of blood at the corner of it. A police snapped a photo and Cloud felt the urge to punch him! Her breasts spilled out from the gown and the lacy underwear she had put on had been pushed hurriedly aside. How dare the police snap a photo of her in this state!

Cloud felt a stinging in his eyes and he bit his lip. Contain the tears! He surged forward and knelt in the pool of blood, not caring if it stained his jeans and he wouldn't be able to wash it. Tifa normally did the laundry anyways. But now…she would never be able to. He reached forward to pick her up, shake her awake but the police quickly pulled him back.

He struggled in the arms of three men. "Tifa!" He hoped she could hear him and open her eyes! Or move her fingers, anything to tell him her heart still held a beat! Cloud moved desperately until finally, perhaps in pity, the police let him go so he could hold her.

She was slick with the paint of blood and she had gotten so cold. Cloud's mind struggled to remember when was the last time he had held her. It had been too long….

His shaking fingers brushed the hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear, only to find that blood had caught onto his fingers from a wound at her head. Blue eyes looked down at her and questioned so many things.

When was the last time he had kissed her?

When was the last time she had smiled at him? He smiled at her?

How long has it been since she rested in bed next to him, their arms wrapped securely around each other and their breathing lulling each other to sleep?

How long has it been since they made love?

So many questions with only one answer…too long ago. He had been too caught up Zack's death that he has neglected the one that held his heart.

His tears made its way down his face and fell upon her, where he finally noticed the dry tracks of her own tears she had shed. After that, it became all a blur. Someone had pried her away from him and he had been shuffled into an ambulance beside her, where she remained unmoving. The machine attached to her gave him an indication that she was still in there somewhere…just lost.

Cloud sat idly in a chair, flipping his phone between his hands. Should he listen to the voicemail she left him? It would be comforting to hear her voice again while he waited. It would be nice to know that when she left the voicemail for him merely a few hours ago, she had been alive and well. It could comfort him while he waited to know if she was okay. An uncertainty that needed the comfort of her voice.

Cloud pulled open his phone and clicked the button that took him to his voicemail. He pressed it against his ear just in time to hear an automatic voice telling him there was one new message. His heart twisted in anxiety. What would her last words be to him just before he found her in a state that only told him that she experienced the worst crime committed to a woman?

The message that opened up broke him.

"CLOUD!" Raw fear and panic. Sounds of broken glass, a muffled cry. Pounding, perhaps from the drop of a book. A choked sob and a grunt, perhaps when she might've landed a hit on her assaulter.

Scrambles. "Cloud! Help me, please!" Perhaps she didn't know that he hadn't picked up. Perhaps she had the comfort of pretending that he had picked up and heard her plea and was rushing to save her.

The screech of something pulled away from its position, like nails on a chalkboard or a chair being pulled out. A loud thud of a body falling. More choking sobs.

"No, no, no!"

A rip. A slap. A cry. A choked gasp, the struggle for air. An impatient grunt and another loud thud. The cries afterward were much softer, soft whispers.

"Cloud…" She whispered his name and it sounded like she was tenderly saying it as an endearment. More muffled grunts that he knew was not hers.

A tortured cry of pain that wrecked him. It was torturing him and yet he could not stop the pain. He sat frozen listening. Finally, a scramble and it was quiet saved for her whimpers and soft cries.

Sniffling. "Cloud…."

Was she thinking of how he failed her? How he failed to save her?

"I love you…" Her broken voice whispered. How he wished that he had heard her say it in real life, without the barrier of the phone.

He listened to the emptiness of the phone after the message stopped playing. He stared blankly at the wall, feeling so numb. Cloud remained motionless until the doctor came out. The doctor held a hooded look in his eyes, something that told him whatever the news was he wasn't going to like it. This was a man that was accustomed to more deaths than lives saved.

"How is she?" Cloud choked out.

The doctor shakes his head. "The damage done to her brain is too severe. I'm sorry, the surgery failed. She'll only have tonight left…I'm sorry."

Only tonight….Cloud wishes that in the last night Tifa has on Earth was full of sweet and good memories. The past year has been painful for the both of them, more painful because he added to it. He wishes that the last year for her had been full of him and them getting engaged and married.

He sits next to her at her bedside. She's ashen and the color of the bruise looks sickening. She's barely breathing. Only tonight…

She comes in later. She was wearing the same outfit he had only taken off a few hours ago. Her light brown hair is down from its trademark braid in a messy heap at her shoulders. She stands at the doorway with a hand to her mouth, tears running over it like a river over rocks and her glistening emerald eyes stare disbelieving. Cloud glances at her and when he does, he feels nauseous. If he hadn't been with her, maybe he could've been there to save Tifa. If he hadn't been with her this past year, he would've been able to create happy memories with Tifa.

Zack, Aeris, Tifa, and him would always go out together. Aeris and Tifa were friends although they were never particularly close. Zack was his best friend and when he died in a car accident, Cloud had found comfort in another woman's arms. Particularly, he found comfort in Zack's girlfriend's arms. They had both been mourning and they found solace in each other in the knowledge that they had lost someone so close to them.

It wasn't that Tifa didn't comfort him. It was the fact that she wasn't as close as Zack and did not feel such an impending loss. He wanted someone to feel the same loss and void in his chest. And he never meant to have an affair but they were the only things that made him forget.

Cloud could remember the night Tifa found out. She had cried and ran out of the apartment. She was gone for a week and he couldn't particularly remember if he was worried or not. However, when she came back she looked solemn and said she would forgive him. She wanted to make the relationship work and her forgiveness made him disgusted with himself. The disgust with himself led him to continue his affair and it hurt Tifa that he never met her halfway in her attempts to fix their relationships.

He feels the painful monster of guilt inside of him and disgust in tidal waves. He turns his back to Aeris. Cloud holds Tifa's cold hand in his and stares longingly at her face. In his memory he can envision her sparkling ruby eyes and her wide warm smile. He starts wishing.

But by the end of the night, at the start of dawn of a new day, none of his wishes come true. He finds himself broken and alone. The comforting sound of the machine that measured her heart turns into a screeching halt and he knows that he has lost her forever. She's lost forever.

His voice is thick with guilt and he finds it difficult to talk, much less breathe, through his tears but he manages to say it clearly. "I love you too…Tifa."

**Notes:** Any requests? Have an idea and you want me to write it? Send me a review with the request and it'll be fulfilled!

1. If Not Lilies, Would They Be Just As Sweet? **Check**

2. Something as Complicated As War **Check**

3. New Divide **Check**

4. QueenAhems- Household pests **Check**

5. xXxAutumnRainxXx - Coming home by Stratovarius

6. xtearsdontfallx - Early Morning by Alesana **Check**

7. Jazzele- Jealousy in the Bar **Check**

8. Warangel88- Cloud disguised as a Shinra solider during destruction of hometown

9. Too Late, Cheater **Check**

10. I'll Give You My Light

11. Kisdota-The Freak Gamer- Family yielding Cloud's sword **Check**

12. Something solid **Check**

13. Kisdota- The Freak Gamer- Story of Cloud as a woman

14. Velvet Assassin Kayla Cross- Cloud flirting to make Tifa jealous

15. Kisdota- The Freak Gamer- Denzel never met Aerith, Cloud


	10. Things Out of the Norm

**Notes: **Thanks for all the reviews. In particular to **Kisdota- The Freak Gamer** for reviewing so much at nearly every chapter and **mom calling** for making me rethink on the organization of my work.

**Summary:** Cloud's flirting to make Tifa jealous

**For: **. Velvet Assassin Kayla Cross

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This was how things normally worked: Tifa got hit on and although she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, Cloud was always the one to throw the men who made trouble out of the bar. Generally, the bar of Seventh Heaven was most dominantly full of men. Men who lusted for the raven haired marital artist with a figure that puts all models to shame came to the bar. It was always up to Cloud to take care of the guys who got too flirty with the owner.

Occasionally a woman stumbled into the bar to drag their boyfriends, friends, or husbands out when it was too late in the night not to be home with them. And sometimes women came to taste the food Tifa often cooked on nights for the bar. Rarely a woman came to her bar for any other reasons listed above.

That was until Cloud Strife started hanging around her bar more since he was most often than not, home by sunset. He sat in a small table, always alone. Sometimes he had his maps out and sometimes he was merely eating dinner alone. Other times, he was nursing a beer and watching over her in that protective manner of his. So since he's started being home often, more women showed up in her bar to ogle him like the men went to the bar to ogle her.

Tifa wasn't so sure if Cloud knew that women sat within his vicinity to stare at him. If he did, she would think he wouldn't care. There were times when a woman would come up to him and start chatting him up, but Tifa had the delightful satisfaction that Clould didn't even give them a glance and simply ignored them.

That was until late one night, a blonde woman sat in the empty chair at Cloud's table. That night, he had drunk at least three beers after his dinner. He had been sitting casually on the side of the chair with his legs stretched out. He had been taking a swig of the beer with his eyes on the newly installed TV that was broadcasting the news when she came. Cloud immediately sat in his chair properly after that with a hard slam of the beer bottle on the table. Tifa wasn't sure if she was imagining it, but she thought that Cloud's bright blue eyes widened a bit.

The girl was a pretty girl, with long wavy dark blonde hair and sparkling emerald eyes. She wore a sequin green tank top and a pair of dark skinny jeans paired off with ankle high heeled boots. She looked like she was going to a club rather than a modest looking bar in Edge. Her curves were modest but she had that hourglass figure most women died for.

Everyone at the bar snapped their attention to the blonde woman, she was beautiful and she was flashy in a way that Tifa never was. But it was more than just her outfit and her bright hair, it was because she had the courage to sit in front of Cloud and attempt to talk to him. The women who sat around the bar watched with their mouths open and the men glanced over with a raised eyebrow. Everyone half expected that Cloud would treat her the same way he treated a wall, ignore it.

Instead the girl chatted him up good. She flashed him a smile, leaned in close over the small table that separated them. She brought a hand up to rest on her chin and the other hand stretched out a little in self introduction.

"Hi, my name is Lily."

Cloud blinked.

"Cloud." He said and shook her hand. And in the next few minutes, Tifa looked on with anger building up in the pit of her gut. He was talking to her! More than just talking, they were flirting!

How could she tell that this Lily girl was flirting with Cloud?

During their half an hour talk, she touched him quite frequently and he would allow it without a flinch. He even leaned in closer with his arms crossed out in front of him on the table. She laughed at whatever he said, a soft giggle that would filter through the noise of the busy crowd and into Tifa's ears.

Tifa gritted her teeth and when Lily pulled out a pen from her matching green sequin purse to write her number on a napkin with the imprint of her lips, Tifa had placed the tray of drinks she had been carrying on the bar with a little more force than she had intended, and stomped her way over. The bar had gone quiet real fast.

This was how it normally went: Tifa was the one that was center of attention and Cloud was the one who kept the wandering hands away and the eyes from ogling too much. Tonight, it was different. Tifa, the ever friendly girl turned hostile.

She had dragged the girl up easily. Tifa opened the door and deposited her "gently" on her feet onto the streets.

"I'm sorry, but I think you might be lost at where to go. I'll give you directions." Tifa said. She pointed at Lily's outfit, "You look like you should be going to somewhere down there." And without pointing in the direction she meant, Tifa closed the door.

The beautifully curved raven haired woman walked over to the blonde man sitting down. He looked up at her with an eyebrow raised but she was barely holding onto her sanity. Tifa hoisted the blonde man up to his feet without much struggle and everyone in the bar was pretty much convinced that she was going to knock him down on his face with a fierce punch that she was known for.

Tifa pulled Cloud close with a hand pulling at the collar of his shirt. His hands went up to her ribcage, ready to push her away in case she did try to hit him. "Tifa…." He opened his mouth to attempt to explain. What she did next was surprising.

"Mine." She whispered loud enough for only him to hear, and she promptly fastened her arms behind his neck and pulled his face towards hers. Their lips clashed in a blink of an eye.

After that, the reasons for women to come to the bar reverted back to normal.

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**Notes:** I'm trying to massively update a lot of my stories before I go back to school and when my updates become fewer and more rare. I hope you enjoyed this chapter though. There were so many scenarios of how this could happen in my head that it was hard ot pick one! I think I wrote this chapter like three times before I settled into one of them.

1. If Not Lilies, Would They Be Just As Sweet? **Check**

2. Something as Complicated As War **Check**

3. New Divide **Check**

4. QueenAhems- Household pests **Check**

5. xXxAutumnRainxXx - Coming home by Stratovarius

6. xtearsdontfallx - Early Morning by Alesana **Check**

7. Jazzele- Jealousy in the Bar **Check**

8. Warangel88- Cloud disguised as a Shinra solider during destruction of hometown POV

9. Too Late, Cheater **Check**

10. I'll Give You My Light

11. Kisdota-The Freak Gamer- Family yielding Cloud's sword **Check**

12. Something solid **Check**

13. Kisdota- The Freak Gamer- Story of Cloud as a woman

14. Velvet Assassin Kayla Cross- Cloud flirting to make Tifa jealous **Check**

15. Kisdota- The Freak Gamer- Denzel never met Aerith, Cloud

16. Winter dance

17 AilenNinja- Tifa and Cloud dating as teenagers

18. Coming back

19. Swimming in the same league

20. Kisdota-The Freak Gamer- Cloud giving Denzel "the talk"


	11. The Talk

**Notes: **Another update! Hope you enjoy the rapid updates. I hope none of these chapters looked rush or poorly written. I hope you review because I thrive on them! Again special thanks to **Kisdota-The Freak Gamer **and **mom calling **for thoughtful reviews and ideas. They made me really happy and thanks again for the reviews.

**Summary:** Cloud giving Denzel "the talk", Italics are thoughts

**For: **.Kisdota-The Freak Gamer

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"But why do I have to move out of the room?" Denzel asked moodily, holding yet another box across the hall. He was twelve now and he had only managed to grow three inches taller over the past two years. He had just recently gotten his haircut by Tifa but they still hung shaggily on his head, looking more like a mop than ever. He repeated his question to his blonde guardian again.

The blonde guardian in question, Cloud, scratched nervously at the back of his head. He looked around in hopes to find Tifa so that she could have this kind of talk to him. Cloud suddenly remembered that Tifa had gone out with Marlene to buy groceries and other things that Marlene had dubbed "girly pretty things for my room now that Denzel won't be there to hog it!"

Thus the ever brave Cloud Strife is stuck with an awkward conversation. Although he was awkward with conversations to begin with but this was even worst. So Cloud kneeled down to the boys level and took the box from his hands and set it on the side. He scratched his head again and tried to find the right way to approach this. God he wishes Tifa was here, he would think she would know how to talk about this.

"Well, Denzel…you're just at the age where you're starting to feel some things."

The younger boy's eyebrows furrowed. "But I always feel things! I feel happy, sad, angry, bored…"

Cloud shook his head. "No, no. Not those kinds of feelings. These feelings are new, ones that kind of….come when you grow up."

"What kind of feelings are they?"

"Um…I guess when you look at girls, you start to feel hot and stuff. And well you'll start thinking about things that have to do with them…like their legs or something." Cloud mentally wanted to hit himself. '_Legs, Cloud? Seriously, you look at a girls legs? LIES! LIES!'_

"So you start to actually get sick when you look at girls when you grow up? Like cooties?"

'_Great way to explain it to him, you dork! Now he thinks getting horny means having the cooties!'_

Quickly, Cloud shook his head. To Denzel, it looked like he was simply saying no but to him, it was just to clear his head. Maybe it was both, who knows.

"No. It's…a good feeling. It just makes you…lose control I guess. I mean you look at a really pretty girl and you start thinking things concerning them, things you only do with certain girls. And you start thinking about doing things that you don't normally do to them. And well…when you look at girls….sometimes your body just reacts in this way..." Cloud could swear his face was turning red. God he hoped he wasn't turning red, he didn't want to look like a dork in front of a kid who still thought of him as a hero.

"So you and Tifa think that I'll start feeling like that or thinking like that…whatever it is, about Marlene?"

Cloud nodded. "Well yeah and other girls too, maybe. But it's more that you sometimes might need your own room to….control your body in reaction to those things, you know?"

Denzel shrugged. "I guess, but Marlene!? No way! As if I would ever like her!"

The younger boy went to retrieve the box but stopped short. "What were you really talking about, Cloud?"

"What?"

"Like…what kind of things does your body do? What kind of things do you want to do to girls?" Now Denzel just looked excited at the prospect that he was going to grow up into doing something Cloud does.

'_Oh great…._'

"Denz, when two people….are together…"

"Like you and Tifa?"

"Like me and Tifa, yes but just in general I mean." Cloud replied. Then he hit himself in the head.

'_Great tell the kid that you and Tifa have sex in the room next to him sometimes! Great going, Cloud!'  
_

"Just people! Just two people, like some guy and some really pretty girl, okay? When they're together, they do things. Things without clothes on! And well…it's natural and normal but it's very private. And sometimes when the guy can't do that kind of stuff to girls, they have to do it to themselves. It's just this private, secret thing. And also you know, girls and guys have different things down there. At one point, girls and boys need to change clothes in separate places, to you know….protect their private places and stuff. And that's why Tifa and I think you and Marlene are at the age where you guys need separate bedrooms anyways."

"Oh, so it's not because you think I need my own space?"

'_Fuck, Cloud…why couldn't you have told him that in the first place?'_

Cloud vigorously nodded. "Yes! That's it, that's the only reason why."

"Why couldn't you just say that in plain English, Cloud?" Denzel asked and then moved on to drop the box into his new room. Denzel's new room was really just Cloud's office, cleared out. Cloud's office had been moved down into the living room and he started to sleep with Tifa in her room. It worked out in the end.

That night when Tifa and him laid down together in bed and talked about their days in silent whispers, Cloud turned red at the thought of mentioning to Tifa the talk he had with Denzel.

"So how was the moving in with Denzel? Did he complain as much as I said he would?"

"No, not really."

"That's good!" She said brightly with a smile. She snuggled closer to him.

"We had 'the talk' when he asked me why he was moving in though….and then in the end he didn't really get it and just thought it was because we think he needed his own space."

She burst laughing at that. "Hey you never had 'the talk' with anybody and you still know all about it! Maybe Denzel could be like that."

"Yeah right, that boy's pretty clueless about things."

Tifa sighed and wrapped her arms tighter around his torso. "Just like somebody else I know…"

"Who?"

"No one you really know."

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**Notes:** Requests? I've noticed that I'm pretty much halfway through my requests! I think I'll stop the drabble once I finished all the requests you've all sent me. So there's no limit except that.

1. If Not Lilies, Would They Be Just As Sweet? **Check**

2. Something as Complicated As War **Check**

3. New Divide **Check**

4. QueenAhems- Household pests **Check**

5. xXxAutumnRainxXx - Coming home by Stratovarius

6. xtearsdontfallx - Early Morning by Alesana **Check**

7. Jazzele- Jealousy in the Bar **Check**

8. Warangel88- Cloud disguised as a Shinra solider during destruction of hometown POV

9. Too Late, Cheater **Check**

10. I'll Give You My Light

11. Kisdota-The Freak Gamer- Family yielding Cloud's sword **Check**

12. Something solid **Check**

13. Kisdota- The Freak Gamer- Story of Cloud as a woman

14. Velvet Assassin Kayla Cross- Cloud flirting to make Tifa jealous **Check**

15. Kisdota- The Freak Gamer- Denzel never met Aerith, Cloud

16. Winter dance

17 AilenNinja- Tifa and Cloud dating as teenagers

18. Coming back

19. Swimming in the same league

20. Kisdota-The Freak Gamer- Cloud giving Denzel "the talk" **Check**

21. Kisdota- The Freak Gamer- Cloud putting a very drunk and affectionate Tifa to bed


	12. Coming Home

**Notes: **I did make the time difference a little different. I made it so that Cloud was gone for a year, even a little after the AC movie ended.

**Summary:** Coming Home by Stratovarius

**For: **xXxAutumnRainxXx

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It's hard to move past a type of life you've been accustomed to living. It's hard to leave behind everything you held importance for a path you feel that you have to take. That's how Cloud feels as he looks around the broken church. This had been his home for a year. He can't really call it much of a home since he spends most of his time on the road. Some days he won't even come back to it, choosing to camp out near the road instead of coming back here.

It was hard to leave the people he loved. It was harder to deal with a path that was blurred. Sometimes he wondered if he was just fooling himself, maybe he wanted to take this path full of guilt and pain because it's the only thing he knows. Maybe he wants to take this road to run away from the happiness that was so beautifully offered to him.

_I wake up in the morning  
So far away from home  
Trying to make it through the day  
Many miles are between us_

Cloud packs up all his stuff and load it onto the sacks attached to his motorcycle. He's not sure if he'll return tonight. He only knows that he'll be on the road for a long time, contemplating where the end of the road leads him. Would he go where his heart craves or where his fragmented mind thinks he should be?

He reeves the engine and Fenrir roars to life. It hums beneath him as he glides it gently out the alley and onto a dirt road. He flicks his wrists a few times and the large motorcycle is a blur on the streets as it races against an invisible opponent to a more solid road.

_I'm sending my love  
From this payphone  
Through the storms we've wandered  
Many mountains we have climbed_

Is there any reason to stay where he has been in the past year? He has seen that he's been forgiven for letting down two people he held so dearly in his heart. They're happy now, in the Lifestream and together. He's defeated all his enemies and the demons that have haunted his mind. Isn't he ready to come back home yet?

The road that leads him to the future that has been waiting for him is hard. It is full of battles and bloodshed and confusion. Cloud's never really known a moment where it's been easy. He's fought to save the world, twice now. He's dealt with identity in a more complicated way than any normal teen would have to. He's been injected with chemicals like a lab rat. His mind has been plagued with voices and people that wasn't him.

_But all the bad times are behind  
The road is free - I'm coming home  
Without you I am like  
A ship without its sails  
Calling the wind to save me_

The future seems a bit easier. There are people with him, where he won't be alone. Cloud's mind flashes back to a familiar picture. Here he is smiling. Here he is standing with the people who are alive and matter to him. The woman he loves stands close by, smiling without touching him but her presence assuring him. The two children he has come to think of his own stand in front of him, smiling for the camera with happiness showing in their eyes. He'll be together with them.

There's Tifa. Tifa…the anchor to his messy torn up shred of a life. The woman who would hold him. The woman who became the glue to his memories. The woman who loved him unconditionally, even when he abandoned her.

So, finally, Cloud pulls off the road. He stares over his shoulder where the city he has left behind stare back. Can he really leave again?

His mind flashes back to the memories, childhood and on, of Tifa. Could he live another year without being near her? Without her food, without her warmth, her smiles, her body next to his? His heart has been holding onto a void that could only be filled by her.

"I can't break my promise to her." Something whispers in his mind. With that, Cloud reeves the engine and does a 180 turn. The face of the city comes closer to his.

_I'd climb the highest mountain  
I'd cross the seven seas  
Just to see you smile again  
All the trust that was built along the years  
Is coming back to stay_

In the daylight of Edge, he can see the bar was still closed. But from memory, he knows that a certain black haired martial artist, the very person of his dreams, would be up and making breakfast or cleaning. The children would still be sleeping at this time.

_I know, just look ahead  
The road is free - I'm coming home  
With every stem I'm closer to home  
When I'm back you won't be alone_

There was nothing to hold him back anymore. No enemy to face and no battles to fight. There is no more guilt and there is no more sins he has committed that he must atone for. He holds his battle scars out for her to see because he knows there's no use hiding. She sees them anyways, knows their stories, and because she shares her own battle scars.

_I know, just look ahead  
The road is free - I'm coming home  
With every stem I'm closer to home  
When I'm back you won't be alone_

Cloud stops Fenrir in front of the window. Through the tinted window, he can see the back of his lover moving gracefully in front of the stove. His heart hammers in his chest and his thoart goes dry. It's only been a few weeks since he's seen her…touched her. And even then, they were chaste and pretending that they never had anything going on between them. Tormented as he was, he pushed away, treated her like a comrade. Hurt but somewhat understanding, she had followed his lead.

Still, he noticed her pain in her eyes when she looked at him…or avoided looking at him. He knew the pain that echoed between them when Marlene yelled at him. Cloud took a deep breath. He reminded himself that there was nothing left; no excuses left, to keep him away anymore. He's wanted to do this _for so long. It's about time to make his future happen. _

_Soon I'll see the familiar door before my eyes  
And you  
Through the storms we've wandered  
Many mountains we have climbed  
All the bad times are behind  
The road is, the road is free, and I'm coming home_

Cloud opens the door. Tifa turns, her silky hair whipping around as well, in surprise. Ruby eyes that looked brown in the dim lighting of the bar widened. He says nothing. He doesn't think he can think of anything to say.

Cloud walks over, leaving the door open. She stands there motionless after dropping her spatula on the floor with a clatter. Every step that takes him closer makes him warmer. His body is aching from missing her, an ache that has become physical.

He stands in front of her. They stare at each other. They take each other in, devouring each other with their eyes. How long have they been starved of the simple pleasure of simply looking at each other? His blue mako laced eyes take in her beautiful pale face as it glows in the light, her eyes sparkling with the wetness of oncoming tears, and her lips quivering. His eyes slip downwards to stare at her slender long neck, her collarbone which is open for viewing. Lower, his eyes caress her curves.

Tifa looks at his softly tanned skin, kissed by the sun on frequents trips on the deserts. Her breath catches at the glowing blue eyes. The blonde hair that defy gravity mirroring the light. She takes in his lean sculpted body she knows is hidden beneath the clothes.

Cloud takes her in his arms, tightly after his eyes have taken their full. His body is aching for her. He shuts his eyes and simply feels the weight of their bodies pressed together and the shared warmth.

"I'm home." He says in a broken voice. The next moment, her arms are up and wrapped around his shoulders, pressing his face closer into her neck. They shift closer together. The world seems to have paused, they were enjoying the simplicity of each other and the complicated path they have taken to get here.

"I'm home." Cloud repeats when he draws back and looks at her again. They keep their arms locked around each other. He kisses her, gently at first as if he's afraid any harder would break her. And finally, the pent up desire for intimacy explodes and he unleashes it in that one kiss.

When they pull back, they are panting and breathless. Their chests are heaving and their eyes are sparkling with happiness. Tifa allows one tear to drop and Cloud's gloved finger catches the stray.

"Yes…you are." She whispers.

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**Notes:**Wow I think this was the longest I've ever posted for this series! Hope you enjoyed and please review!

1. If Not Lilies, Would They Be Just As Sweet? **Check**

2. Something as Complicated As War **Check**

3. New Divide **Check**

4. QueenAhems- Household pests **Check**

5. xXxAutumnRainxXx - Coming home by Stratovarius **Check**

6. xtearsdontfallx - Early Morning by Alesana **Check**

7. Jazzele- Jealousy in the Bar **Check**

8. Warangel88- Cloud disguised as a Shinra solider during destruction of hometown POV

9. Too Late, Cheater **Check**

10. I'll Give You My Light

11. Kisdota-The Freak Gamer- Family yielding Cloud's sword **Check**

12. Something solid **Check**

13. Kisdota- The Freak Gamer- Story of Cloud as a woman

14. Velvet Assassin Kayla Cross- Cloud flirting to make Tifa jealous **Check**

15. Kisdota- The Freak Gamer- Denzel never met Aerith, Cloud

16. Winter dance

17 AilenNinja- Tifa and Cloud dating as teenagers

18. Coming back

19. Swimming in the same league

20. Kisdota-The Freak Gamer- Cloud giving Denzel "the talk" **Check**

21. Kisdota- The Freak Gamer- Cloud putting a very drunk and affectionate Tifa to bed

22. FRAODD- Denzel disturbing all with excessive gas


	13. I'll Give You My Light

**Notes:** I wanted to try that new style that was inspired by demongg. The stories demonng writes is amazing and I love reading them, so you should too. I did struggle to find something to write about it. I tried to use a request but I ended up using a request I wanted to do that was my idea. I wasn't as happy with this as I was the others, but I do like it still. I hope you enjoy!

**Another Note: **Inspired by a scene from Kingdom Hearts 2

**Summary:** Cloud has always been wrapped in darkness and Tifa is going to give him the type of hope he inspires in her.

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A thick and hazy fog, there is nothing visible. Still, straining eyes seek purchase. Where? Where? Where? How long has she been searching? How many questions has she asked for him?

He's there. Solid and real, not in the hazy fog of her dreams or her past. His eyes say to her, "No, I'm not here." And she'll go searching for him again.

Darkness now. Panic now. She can't see! Is she falling? How many steps has she taken? Where are her hands? Her hair? Her feet? Displacement.

Deep breaths, she tells herself. Breathe, she shouts at herself.

She thinks about his hair, how it glows in the sun like a halo. He's not an angel but he looks like one, even dressed in all black. She thinks about his eyes. That meshed up stained glass blue. Broken, expressive, and unfiltered. She thinks about the feeling of warmth.

The darkness relents. Screams and screams wrap themselves around her. Choke her, they want. Get out, get out, they scream. Push and shove. Darkness comes whipping.

Still, she walks. Or she floats. She's not sure which it is. Her eyes still seek her prize.

She still dreams of lush mountains. She still thinks of strong hard Earth beneath her. She still thinks of stars in a dark sky. She still thinks of beautiful whit snow.

The darkness hurts. She doesn't stop. She doesn't think she can stop. The darkness edges away each time she comes closer to it. Still, it comes back with more power to push her away. The power here is so strong. Still, her eyes seek.

Drag her feet, she has become a toy solider. Wind her up, set her down, and she'll walk.

The darkness forms walls. They taunt her. They'll never let her through. They taunt him too. They get thicker. They curl too. They curl themselves around her prize. They whisper things she can't hear to him.

Stop it, she wants to scream. Stop it. The pain he suffers is ten fold to her. She hits the walls. They only form holes without a whimper. She pours power into it. Not a scream and not a cry. She wants it to hurt, this darkness.

The darkness taunts. The darkness is seductive. Black turns into grey. It swirls too much around her. Is she in a tornado? It is this brokenness that is fighting. It is this unknown that is fighting something solid. Struggling, whimpering in its power. It is limping in its attempt. Still it fights.

"I'll give you my light." She says. Hand over heart. Ready for sacrifice. "Take my light."

Pounding on blue. Her eyes have found her prize. But it isn't her eyes that devour. It is her body and soul. Heart too. Bleeding heart that takes her prize.

She wraps herself around him. Tightly although it always feels like he's slipping. He is a dark comfort. So solid and so real, and so seductively dark.

She thinks of the things that make her toes curl. She dreams of things that are mundane, things that keep her body humming in pleasure. Simple things. His shy smile. His childish look when he sleeps.

"I'll give you my light."

_I'll protect you with it. _Tifa thinks. He can have anything just as long as he lets her keep her prize. Him, always him. Been waiting for too long. Let her have it for the rest of the memory now.

Soft velvet. Warmth that could only be him. A chaste kiss, this one. It isn't the one she would've fantasized about. It was more fragile. It was more real. Reality in fragility.

Weakness pouring in. it seeps into her pores. It wreaks her body. She has enough light.

When ruby start to glint, she finds her prize with her too. Still fragile but real. Less grey, no black. Some of her on him too.

Strength in something broken. They can be broken together. Together, they can be whole too.

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**Notes:** Send those reviews and those requests! :]

1. If Not Lilies, Would They Be Just As Sweet? **Check**

2. Something as Complicated As War **Check**

3. New Divide **Check**

4. QueenAhems- Household pests **Check**

5. xXxAutumnRainxXx - Coming home by Stratovarius **Check**

6. xtearsdontfallx - Early Morning by Alesana **Check**

7. Jazzele- Jealousy in the Bar **Check**

8. Warangel88- Cloud disguised as a Shinra solider during destruction of hometown POV

9. Too Late, Cheater **Check**

10. I'll Give You My Light **Check**

11. Kisdota-The Freak Gamer- Family yielding Cloud's sword **Check**

12. Something solid **Check**

13. Kisdota- The Freak Gamer- Story of Cloud as a woman

14. Velvet Assassin Kayla Cross- Cloud flirting to make Tifa jealous **Check**

15. Kisdota- The Freak Gamer- Denzel never met Aerith, Cloud

16. Winter dance

17 AilenNinja- Tifa and Cloud dating as teenagers

18. Coming back

19. Swimming in the same league

20. Kisdota-The Freak Gamer- Cloud giving Denzel "the talk" **Check**

21. Kisdota- The Freak Gamer- Cloud putting a very drunk and affectionate Tifa to bed

22. FRAODD- Denzel disturbing all with excessive gas


	14. Drunks and Forever

**Notes:** I'll be alternating between my own ideas and requests. But feel free to send me a request.

**Summary:** A drunk Tifa is a very affectionate Tifa, and Cloud has to put her to bed!

**For: **Kisdota- The Freak Gamer

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Sometimes he wondered what Tifa would do if she didn't have to take care of everybody else. What if she didn't have to take care of Marlene? What if she didn't have to make sure he didn't go depressed and lose his sanity? What if she never had to take care of Denzel? What if she didn't have to be the glue to the AVALANCHE group?

He guessed that she could've been a singer. He would never say that Tifa would've been a stripper. Cloud had too much respect for her to say that. Still, the way she was dancing on that table made it seem like she could've been some beautiful dancer. He wasn't sure about her singing. He thinks the alcohol must've done something with her voice. Tifa's voice normally sounded a lot better when she was singing in the morning while cooking breakfast.

Tonight, Seventh Heaven was a place for a party. From the amount of music and loud laughter, Cloud was sure that people walking by would think that Seventh Heaven had turned into a nightclub full of rowdy dancers. But tonight, it was a closed party of the craziest people he's ever known: his friends.

At this point, after downing three vodkas, he's not sure what the occasion was for celebration. He wasn't drunk. Cloud was just pleasantly buzzed. Vincent had already retreated upstairs to sleep, no longer wanting to participate in such a loud environment. Barret was out cold. Cid had taken Shera back to their hotel room they reserved. Yuffie was sleeping in a booth, fallen in a drunk stupor. At this point, the party was over.

Tifa, on the other hand, seemed to have loss all sense of awareness of her environment. She sat on the bar counter with her legs dangling in between the spaces of two bar stools. Cloud could see that she had a bottle of vodka right next to her but didn't see her take anymore shots of it. She was giggling at something she could only understand and her face was flushed from the alcohol and the exercise of dancing.

By now, it was late. The party was over and all the participants had fallen asleep. This left only Cloud and Tifa awake. Cloud decided it would be a good time as any to go back to sleep, they had one hell of a morning to wake up to.

He trudged over to the giggling woman.

"Hi Cloud!" She said in a sing song voice. The way she looked made him remember a time when she was a child smiling at him with a wave. He offered her a small smile and without warning, picked her up with ease.

"Cloud! What are you doing?" Tifa exclaimed. But still, she wrapped her arms around him and rested her cheek against his shoulder. She giggled. "You're so cute!" Her hands were slipping into his hair now. She stared up at him with drunken hazy eyes.

She hoisted herself up a little, so that she was sitting in the cradle of his arms. She rubbed her cheek against his and hummed in the simple friction of skin. "You're so warm and soft…"

Her lips brushed against his neck. Cloud almost dropped her in shock. "You taste good too." Tifa commented with another giggle. She swung her legs and he found himself struggling to maintain balance. "You're so strong! I must be very heavy!" She laughed, not even minding the fact that she had called herself fat.

"You're not heavy at all." Cloud hastily reassured her. Tifa hummed again. By now, Cloud had managed to walk up all the stairs and was approaching the hall where the bedrooms were.

"I want to sleep in your room!" Tifa shouted all of a sudden. And before Cloud could say or do anything, she had jumped from his arms and on her feet, although she stumbled to complete the action. She took his hands, "I want to sleep with you tonight!"

"Tifa…"

She turned around with a pout on her lips. Her eyes seemed to sparkle and he could tell she was going to start crying. Drunk Tifa was very childish. But he liked her this way too, they both never got be to children for very long after all. Tifa came up to him now. Cloud blushed at the way she pressed her body tightly against his.

"You don't want to sleep with me, Cloud?" She asked.

"It's not that…"

"Lots of men want to sleep with me! They say that all night long, every night! No man can resist me!" As she said this, she pressed her breasts against his chest. "They even grab me all night! Are you a man?"

Her hands slipped down. Cloud gulped. He struggled to reach for her hand before she could complete her intended action. Too late. He jumped back this time. Tifa laughed. Without another thought, Cloud surged forward and picked her up again. This time, Cloud threw her over his shoulder. She giggled, clearly amused by his embarrassment.

Cloud took her to his room, since she kept insisting for it. He laid her down gently on the bed. Tifa sighed. As he tried to turn away and sleep in her room, Tifa took his hands and pulled him down with a strength that almost knocked the air out of him. Almost.

Before he could do anything else, Tifa had sealed her lips to his. The only warning he got was her saying: "I want to kiss you!"

Her lips were soft and warm. Her lips had a taste of some chocolate martini she had cooked up a little while before. A drunken kiss but a nice one still. She wasn't a sloppy kisser when she was drunk, at least.

When Tifa pulled away, Cloud was sure that was the end of it. He was wrong.

The next thing Tifa did was pull him down into the bed. She trapped him in between her arms and her legs. He tried to pull away but even in her drunken sleep, her grip on him would not let up.

"I love you lots, you know Cloud? When will you tell me you love me too?" Suddenly, Tifa sounded very sad. "It's okay though…I'll wait forever for you. It'll be worth it. I have to believe that."

And she fell deeply asleep. Cloud laid there frozen for quite some time. He opened his mouth only to close it again, like a fish. His mind was racing and yet nothing even seemed to make sense. When Tifa's hold on him slacked, Cloud slipped out from bed. He went into Tifa's room and laid down in her bed, where her scent was captivated and wrapped around him like a cloud of perfume.

Does she have to wait forever?

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**Notes:** Send those reviews and those requests! :]

1. If Not Lilies, Would They Be Just As Sweet? **Check**

2. Something as Complicated As War **Check**

3. New Divide **Check**

4. QueenAhems- Household pests **Check**

5. xXxAutumnRainxXx - Coming home by Stratovarius **Check**

6. xtearsdontfallx - Early Morning by Alesana **Check**

7. Jazzele- Jealousy in the Bar **Check**

8. Warangel88- Cloud disguised as a Shinra solider during destruction of hometown POV

9. Too Late, Cheater **Check**

10. I'll Give You My Light **Check**

11. Kisdota-The Freak Gamer- Family yielding Cloud's sword **Check**

12. Something solid **Check**

13. Kisdota- The Freak Gamer- Story of Cloud as a woman

14. Velvet Assassin Kayla Cross- Cloud flirting to make Tifa jealous **Check**

15. Kisdota- The Freak Gamer- Denzel never met Aerith, Cloud

16. Winter dance

17 AilenNinja- Tifa and Cloud dating as teenagers

18. Coming back

19. Swimming in the same league

20. Kisdota-The Freak Gamer- Cloud giving Denzel "the talk" **Check**

21. Kisdota- The Freak Gamer- Cloud putting a very drunk and affectionate Tifa to bed **Check**

22. FRAODD- Denzel disturbing all with excessive gas

23. Kisdota-The Freak Gamer- Are Marlene and Denzel friends or siblings?

24. Kisdota- The Freak Gamer- Marlene and Denzel wonder if Vincent is a vampire after hearing how Tifa and Cloud meet him

25. Why by Ayaka song


	15. Crushed

**Author's Notes:** So I wrote this on my blog. It's a big reflection of me and my life. But after I finished writing it and read it, I realized it reflected Tifa a lot too. So here it is. Review and enjoy. It's short and simple.

I once crushed my world to pieces beneath my feet. Some of the shattered pieces joined the rest that have accumulated in a messy pile. Some were loss forever, stolen from me when I gave them away. Some were too small to pick out. Still they all sunk into my flesh and clawed for blood. I may have cried, screamed, and cursed in that haze of an emotional hurricane. I fell. I curled up and turned my back on the world. But the world doesn't stop turning just because I take myself out of it. So I plucked the pieces out of my flesh. The wounds only sting. They leave scars. I put the pieces back together, solder it together with words that were formed from my thoughts. Silly words that are strung together to form sentences. Silly sentences that speak only a language I can hear but can not speak. The soldering is thin and fragile but it is strong. I place my world up to the sun. It is this messy mural of stained glass pieces. The colors reflect, painting me. This is my crushed world, I say, and I hold it up to the light. This is my crushed world that colors me. It is kept together by my words from my faith. It is as tattered and as worn as my body and my heart. But I've put this together and it is beautiful because I say so. Perfection is overrated. This is art. So now, I give bigger pieces away because I know that even if they're stolen, I can solder my world together again. I can make it beautiful, I can make a new mural. I can make more colors. I can fill the void with more soldering. I can even put pieces of others here. I can put a piece of him over to the left. I can put a piece of her over to the top. My crushed world may be only a meshed up stained glass mosaic, but at least I have a world to call my own.


	16. Siblings? Friends? More, someday?

**Author's Notes: **I'll be taking a break from requests for now. I'd like to finish up the ones I do have and work on other stories before I start accepting more requests.

**Summary: **Marlene and Denzel question whether or not they will come to be siblings or friends, or even more.

**For: **Kisdota- The Freak Gamer

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At age twelve and almost eleven, Denzel and Marlene could barely remember a time when they weren't each other's playmates. They've always slept together in the same room and woken up to the other's snoring or incoherent mumblings. They've always fought for the sink when brushing their teeth and banging on doors to tell each other to hurry up. They walked to and from school together. They both helped Tifa out. And they both fought for their guardians' attention almost every night.

At age fourteen and almost thirteen, Denzel and Marlene have gotten their own separate bedrooms. They still have to fight for the bathroom and a sink. They still walk to and from school together. And they still fight for attention from their guardians. What was different was that adolescence has pressured them to find friends of their own gender. Still, by the end of the night, they'd often sneak into each other's rooms and share secrets. Because even though they found new friends, they were still best friends.

At age sixteen and almost fifteen, it is awkward and uncertain. They avoid each other and barely speak. They find excuses to walk with different people to and from school. They find new things to do to avoid being in the same room together for too long of a period of time. Except for dinner. Tifa always made sure to have them all together for dinner.

"What are we?" Marlene blurts one day when the weather has forced them to walk to school together huddled under a bright red umbrella.

"What do you mean?" Denzel asks, although secretly he knows what this conversation is and isn't quite ready to confront it.

"I mean…Tifa and Cloud are married now. Are we their children so does this mean we're siblings? Are we friends?"

He stops walking. She stops walking too in order to keep the umbrella afloat between them so neither of them get wet from the heavy patter of the rain.

When Denzel doesn't say anything for a long time, Marlene asks another question.

"Could we be more?"

"I don't know…" He mumbles. "I don't know!"

Denzel breaks off into a string of mumbles. He says how she's still Barret's daughter. He says he guesses that he's Tifa's and Cloud's son but Marlene has always been Tifa's daughter. Maybe siblings. Siblings? They've always played together and they've always shared secrets together. Maybe friends. Friends? He thinks she's pretty. Maybe they'll be more. Potential for more?

Marlene stops him by pressing her palm into his mouth. She smiles at him. Denzel can't tell if the pink on her face is from the blood rushing to her cheeks like his is or from the red hue of the umbrella.

"We'll figure it out later."

He nods dumbly. They continue walking to school that morning.

At age seventeen and almost sixteen, Marlene has gotten her first boyfriend. His name was Alex…or Alan…or something that isn't quite important. Denzel beats him up two days after Marlene announces it to their guardians. Something about looking at his best friend the wrong way?

There becomes insistent teasing afterwards and long lectures from Tifa and punishment. Still Denzel has never felt more happy.

One day, they'll figure it out. Today isn't the day.

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**Author's Notes: **I know I didn't tell you what they become. But that's because I really can't pick! So I left it up to you guys.


	17. Your Love is a Song

**Author's Notes: **I was planning on doing a lot more writing this break. Unfortunately, I've had that awful thing called writer's block. I had really wanted to update "Umbrella Against Fate", it's in the works still. Hopefully, just hopefully, it'll be out before I go back to school. This chapter is a spur of the moment inspiration, I had to write it before the idea flew away from me.

**Summary: **Love is beautiful. It is the type of music that wraps around you. Inspired by: "Your Love is a Song" by Switchfoot.

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The crack of dawn is the time he wakes up. It is when the sun arises once again, without fail, after Earth has fallen into a pit of darkness. At the crack of dawn is the earliest Cloud will wake up, he refuses to leave the house before then. He'd love it if he was able to leave much later.

At the crack of dawn, he is able to slip away from the depth of his nightmares. His dreams fall down like a meteor shower in the wake of a morning. There are things to do, people to take care of, and work to be done. Night is the time for thinking and suffering and all other things that aren't on his list of things to do.

Cloud turns, expecting to be able to watch silky cascades of raven black turning amber brown from the sunlight filtering in through the thin blinds. He is only half surprised to see the warm body that was supposed to be there, with the beautiful curvy silhouette and the open arms, gone. Typical. Nightmares don't exist, at night or during the day, with her hording his capacity of thinking. He smiles.

_I hear you breathing in_

_Another day begins_

_The stars are falling out_

_My dreams are fading now, fading out_

Refreshed and ready for another long day, he watches her. She always insists to be up before he is, no matter how early. He watches her, still dressed in a nightgown hidden by a robe with tangled waves of recently cut black hair and blue bunny slippers as she moves almost mechanically in the small kitchen. Cloud can still see her eyes half closed, her mind and body still in the loose clutches of sleep.

After a while, she turns to him. Eyes wide open, sweet honey red wine with those expressive gold flecks in them fixated upon him. A smile. The type that changes her whole face. It is like the sunlight has been spotlighted on her face and her lost youth has suddenly been returned to her. Perhaps she has always known where the secret Fountain of Youth was. His heart beats rapidly. She smiles that smile, the one that lights up her eyes, the one that warms him up from the inside out, that smile that is only his.

_I've been keeping my eyes wide open  
I've been keeping my eyes wide open_

_your love is a symphony  
all around me  
running through me_

She walks to him. The soft padding of her slippers patting the ground gently, as if she is also even afraid to hurt the floor. His hands slips onto the curves of her waist, holds her there in front of him. She looks up and Shiva, how beautiful she looked. Her moonstone pale skin dashes out in front of him and captivated in those strong long, smooth but callous, fingers was the familiar brown bag.

"Your lunch." She says, her voice is a little raspy from the few hours she hasn't been using it. "Don't forget to eat it, Cloud."

_your love is a symphony  
all around me  
running through me_

_your love is a melody  
underneath me  
running to me  
your love is a song_

The way she says this, coupled along with the way she's looking at him while in his arms, he knows that no nightmares could be beaten by the glorious reality that is so solid in front of him. He has someone who cares for him. He has someone to care for. He's always had her.

Her silent hope, reassurance, and love has always been able to carry him through the worst. It's kept him together. She was his glue to his puzzle. She was strong enough to withstand the fights and still hold his fragile pieces together without losing one. They've both carried weights on their shoulder, some types heavier than others. But here, in this moment, it is gone.

She had been waiting for such a long time. She's been fighting a long time. But finally, he's managed to catch up to hold her. And she's remained to take care of him. Because even when she's tired from long nights of working and taking care of a fragile but nonetheless real family, she'll wake up in the morning to ensure that he'll be taken care of too.

_the dawn is fire bright  
against the city lights  
the clouds are glowing now  
the moon is blacking out_

Cloud takes the bag. His fingers flex and she is closer than ever. There is no such thing as brown paper bags in the way between them. He rests his cheek and chin at the top of her head. He presses a soft and secret kiss to her head. Arms curl to his shoulder blades.

As quickly as it had started, it had ended. He presses a soft kiss to her lips, waiting to watch her eyes close before closing his own to enjoy the brief sensual experience of pressing lips together.

_I've been keeping my mind wide open  
I've been keeping my mind wide open_

your love is a song

with my eyes wide open  
I've got my eyes wide open  
I've been keeping my hopes unbroken

"Thanks, Tifa." He says before he heads for the door.

"Come back home soon, Cloud."

He looks at her over his shoulder. He looks her right in the eye.

"I always do."


	18. When He Leaves

**Author's Notes:** Finally! Summer! But here is a story, part 1 out of 3. This is a story in itself. But here is part 1 and if you want to read the rest, look it up in its own separate story. I really do hope you enjoy!

Italics are thoughts.

**Summary:** It is difficult to leave behind everything you've ever wanted. Even harder to know that you'll never return even though your heart's deepest desire is to come back

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Cloud stands by the doorway and watches as Tifa tucks Marlene first into bed. She smoothes the covers over the small girl and hums a soft lullaby, sitting next to her until she has fallen asleep. He watches as Tifa pads her way softly next to the young boy standing drowsily next to his own, awaiting for her to tuck him in as well. Denzel was having a good day, a day where his sickness didn't weigh him down. He had been able to eat and play happily for a few hours.

He watches as Denzel grasps Tifa's hand in his when she leads him towards his bed. She tucks him in and smiles at him when he sleepily asks if they could have pancakes tomorrow. Cloud smiles when she whispers, "Yes of course." And Denzel has slipped away into the realm of dreams where they cannot follow with the reassurance.

She doesn't quite look at him as she walks towards him. But that's okay because he doesn't quite look at her either. She leaves the door ajar so that the light in the hallway could pour some streak of light in the children's bedroom. She leaves it ajar, he knows, so that she can easily check up on them. Tifa finally looks at him then, giving him a soft smile. He nods but doesn't give her a smile in return. But his eyes soften and she knows.

They walk together the short distance of the hall. Occasionally, his hands whisper out without his awareness in hopes to catch hers. Each time, before their hands could intermingle, Cloud catches himself.

"_Stupid, stupid! Don't do it" _He yells at himself.

Soon they are at the end of the hall, where their path branches off. She goes to her bedroom and he goes to his. Tifa's hand brushes his arm, the one he has started to recently cover in a long sleeve cloth. She doesn't know why it's there and he doesn't want to tell her. Her fingers give his bicep muscle a soft squeeze before murmuring her goodnight. His arms still tingles with her warmth when he whispers goodnight to her as well. Cloud feels at peace as he closes his bedroom door and prepares for sleep.

The peace doesn't last long. Almost as soon as he closes the door, his arm starts to burn. Hissing, he drops on his knees. He pushes his forehead against the cool floorboards as his hand grips the other arm. He's hoping that the sizzling pain will subside. It only grows worst and he bites his lips to suppress the shout of pain threatening to choke its way out.

Cloud's head feels torn. Images of fire in his mind, whispers of a madman's laugh, silver hair, and taunting green eyes. He doesn't feel it when his body collapses against the floor and he has curled into a ball. His fingers feel the wet black puss through the cloth though but he doesn't feel the pain in his lip when he bites too hard.

"_Don't let Tifa know! Don't let Tifa hear! Don't let Tifa.." _He chants it over and over again. She has enough to worry about. How can he be her hero if she has to worry about him? How can he tell Denzel it's okay if the boy sees him so weak from this disease as well? After long terrifying minutes of agony, he crawls his way to his bed. His actions are automatic after that, bandaging his arm and falling into bed.

"_Just one more day, just one more day." _He tells himself. He'll stay one more day. He'll leave eventually. He's thought about it for so long but he doesn't want to go anywhere. He knows he should go. He can't stay. Cloud knows he's put Tifa through too much. All those times of taking care of him…all those times she's saved him. He just can't let her see that he's dying. He'd rather have her believe he left on his own free will and is just…hiding from her. Better than having her know that he's dying in front of her. He doesn't want her to feel helpless and without hope, because Tifa without hope broke his heart.

He attempts to drift off to sleep. One more day, he tells himself. One more—

He buries his face in the pillow and screams into it. It hurts, it hurts, it hurts! It's burning him, from the inside out.

"Cloud? Are you alright?" Her voice whispers through the door with a soft knock. His heart stops when he hears her hand twisting the knob.

"I'm fine!" He whispers harshly back.

"Oh. Alright…" He hates himself for the drop in her voice. "Are you sure?"

He hates the hope in her voice then too. Why does she always want to help him? Why does she always want to take care of him? He harshly says yes and a goodnight. When she leaves, Cloud can only feel ashamed. Why had he been so cruel?

And he knows then that he had to leaves _tonight_. There is a sharp pain in his heart, something emotional and not physical, when he realizes this. His last conversation with her would be him pushing her away again. Cloud wishes that he could stop keeping her at arm's length. All he's ever wanted to do was to keep her close and yet, he pushes her so far away. It is heartbreaking.

He drifts in and out of a light sleep, waiting for another hour before he gets up off the bed and prepares. It is well after two in the morning when he gets up. He leaves the bed unmade and packs a sleeping bag and other simple camping necessities. He takes some delivery forms and makes it seem that this was just another extended trip for deliveries. Give Tifa a pretense for a short while, delay the pain.

Cloud packs his motorcycle before coming back upstairs. He stops at her door and listens. Silence saves for the light breathing of two children. Cloud opens the door and walks in silently. And even in the dark room, she is the only thing that shines, every bit representing how much of a North Star she was to him. A lone comet in a pitch velvet sky in his eyes.

Even in the silence, he cannot find the right words to say. Even without her awake, with her knowledge and her eyes searing into his skin, he can't manage to speak. He's always been afraid. Afraid of what?

So his thoughts do the talking because when Tifa is up and awake, she can hear them just as loudly as if he was speaking them outloud. Maybe, somehow they can reach to the dream world she has slipped into too. He can only hope.

'_Do you know…I feel weak all the time? Yet when I look at you, I feel stronger. You make me feel like somehow, no matter what I do, you'll still look at me the same way. I won't be a monster to you and I won't be a failure to you. Just me. Even when I don't know sometimes who this 'me' is…you will. I just know it. Can feel it down in my bones.'_

'_I thought that I could finally tell you this. Tell you how beautiful you are to me. Even try to convey to you, in words, of how much I…. __**love **__you. Your smiles and even your tears. Your eyes, even when there's this little glint in the corner that tells me you're angry or you're plotting. Your hands with all their scars and calluses.'_

'_And just when I felt like I could finally tell you this…things just push me miles and miles away.'_

He inches closer to her. He kneels at her bedside, holds his breath when she turns in her sleep and faces him. Panic and awe clutches at his heart. She's absolutely beautiful. He leans forward, just a little. Not quite touching her when he wants to, so very much.

'_Since I got this…sickness, Geostigma, I just can't help but think it's all so unfair. I've been trying to leave for a while now…. And yet I always find a way to delay it because I don't want to picture days without seeing you. I don't want to know moments where I won't know that I can go home to you.'_

Cloud feels like dying, right here. The agony of his thoughts upon his heart felt like…there wasn't words to describe it. Plain and simple: it hurt. Like hell.

'_But I have to go. I don't want to see you lose hope if or when you find out I have Geostigma. I don't want to see Denzel lose hope that he won't recover. I don't want to see you watch me die. I don't want you to help me damn it!'_

'_I hate it when you help people. Do you know why, Tifa? Because you help so much and it always feels like…you're giving yourself away without leaving anything left for you. So I'm leaving, leaving so you can have some small piece of your sanity and your hope and your heart for just you. Because I know that if I stay and you get to watch me die, I'm going to rob you of that piece.'_

He smiles when she whispers his name. But it is a bittersweet smile. She dreams of him and it gives him both pleasure and pain. Knowing that he is in her dreams, like she is in his, makes him happy. It gives him hope. But it pains him at the same time that this knowledge comes when he is leaving her. Leaving her was and is never something he is happy about doing.

Cloud straightens. He holds his breath and before he could even think about it further, dropped the lightest kiss anyone could've ever given to someone upon her cheek.

"Goodbye Tifa." He drinks in the sight of her. He tries to memorize every detail of her as he walks out that door.

And he leaves like smoke dissipating.

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**Author's notes:**Well that was a little intense, I think. I've had the idea for a while and it actually took me 2 months to finally finish it. As usual, I never proofread the entire thing. I just write because I'm afraid the inspiration will leave me just as soon as I get it. So enjoy it!


	19. Elaborate Game

**Author's Notes:** I am currently working on a chapter for this Simplicity folder. It's going to be very long and somewhat elaborate. It doesn't help that I'm having writer's block for certain aspects of it. But while on the road to writing that story, I stumbled upon two ideas that I just had to write. It's midnight and I'm staying up to write it up even after the hellish weekend I've had! But I hope you enjoy my massive update.

For Umbrella Against Fate readers: The revised link is up. I'm working on the second chapter as we speak so please read and enjoy or re-enjoy.

**Summary:** She thought it was some elaborate game. The end result is painful but it is where she finds the dream that they will both cling to.

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When she hears that her mother is gone, Tifa only thinks it is an elaborate game her mother has designed. In a child's mind, death is a foreign thing and it is difficult to comprehend. When her father gives her a Sunday's best black dress, she doesn't question it. It is after all, Sunday.

When she heads to the town's only church, she can only question why there are suddenly more flowers and why everyone was crying. Tifa stays close to her dad, suddenly feeling like she's been shoved into a strange world. People hug her while weeping. They apologize for her loss.

How could she have lost if she was still playing the game?

Tifa still has not seen her mother. In her child's mind, she thinks that her mother is playing hide and seek.

They walk up to a silky big looking box. Tifa stands on tip-toes to catch a glimpse of what is inside the box. A strange, ghostly pale woman is in it wearing a blue dress. She thinks she's seen that dress somewhere in her mother's closet once but there are many blue dresses out there. She doesn't think much of it.

Her father helps her up to take the seat next on the platform with the black box with the woman inside of it. They sit there together alone while people walk to the black box and then towards them. People speak in hushed whispers and Tifa has long given up on trying to hear what they're saying. She is too busy looking for her mother.

Her mother with her smiling face and happy demeanor. Any moment her mother was going to come through the door and find Tifa. Her mother was going to be happy that she had dressed by herself and was quiet and obedient today while being with her father. Then mother and daughter would hug and they'd finish church and get some ice cream and go home.

But first, Tifa had to find her. She knows that her mother is hiding somewhere and Tifa has to go find her! It's hide and seek after all. No one will tell her where her mother is, that would be cheating. And Tifa knows better than to ask because that would be cheating also. She thinks that they all know where her mother is anyways but plays along with her little game.

Later, Mr. Lockhart puts her seatbelt on her for in a big black car she's never seen before. She sits in front of the big black box and squirms about in her seat. It is uncomfortable sitting so close to a big box with a scary unknown woman in it. They go to the graveyard and Tifa wonders if they are going to go put flowers on her grandparent's grave. Instead, they are lowering the big black box into the ground and putting dirt over it. Tifa thinks that it all looks like a dog burying his bone in the yard.

Everything is so subdued that it bothers her. By now, she thinks, her mother should've given up and come out. She can't find her! Upon returning home, Tifa looks high and low silently for any trace of her mother. When Mr. Lockhart is in the living room with some guests who she doesn't attempt to recognize, Tifa sneaks out of the house.

The only place she hasn't looked is the mountains. Sometimes they go hiking together. Maybe Mrs. Lockhart is somewhere on one of the paths they've taken together. Maybe her mother wants to test her on remembering the routes around the mountain. After a few hours and the sky began to darken, Tifa has yet to find her mother. She's tried shouting that she's given up on the game and to please, please, come out mommy!

But nothing and Tifa eventually ventures up higher. Maybe her mother wanted to show her a new place on the mountain, much further than where they had gone before. She treks up higher and higher the mountain and soon enough when she looks behind her to peer down on her little town beneath, it keeps getting smaller and smaller. It also gets colder.

She shouts for her mother one last time and suddenly the rope bridge she had been standing on rips apart. She screams. Mommy, mommy! Where are you?

But then there is a hand. Her heart skips a beat. Her mother! Finally! But it is a small hand, like hers. Pale golden skin and a flash of sunlight hair. Her world tumbles down. It went spiraling and a soft weight was behind her, holding her safe. She hasn't felt safe anywhere except in her mother's embrace. Tifa wanted to protect this thing, this person, that made her safe. After all, Tifa realizes, she's lost her mother forever. She wants to keep this one person left. So she turns and shifts.

Then it is black. It is searing hot pain that burns across her skull and explodes its way throughout her body. Then there is numbness. And before she loses all thought, she whispers something. She whispers the statement because it is the only thing left she can think of.

_Cloud_.

Much later when she re-awakes, the world has suddenly changed in her eyes. Somehow she's even lost Cloud who had been the only one to attempt to protect her when she was foolish. He is shunned further and he disappears from the corners of her eyes. But still, somehow she knows he's there. He is somewhere close by and in her heart, Tifa knows he's close enough to come help her. That knowledge alone makes her feel safe.

Fast forward a few years and on a windy starry night, they meet on a well. It is the first time they've really spoken and been together. Tifa doesn't find it weird that he has called her out. Rather, she panics on what to wear. It is at the stage when girls start to think of boys in a different light and dreams of romantic scenes stolen from "borrowed" romance novels after all.

But he tells her, half shy and half confident in the way only Cloud could, that he is leaving. He is leaving her for good, like her mother. And even though he says he's going to come back, Tifa knows it's not going to be soon enough. And in that moment, she thinks back to a time when she'd been falling and afraid and he'd been there to keep her safe. He'd been her hero.

"Promise me that when I'm in a pinch, you'll come save me!"

And from then on, they held onto that. It would keep them tied forever and that alone made her feel safe.


	20. 50 Ways to Fall in Love

**Author's Notes: **I'm back again! This time it is due to a muse who comes late and night who wishes to keep me up late at night [when I have work very early in the morning!]. I hope you all read and review!

**Summary:** 50 sentences, each representing a different love story between Cloud and Tifa.

**Another note:** These sentences either talk about the beginning or in the middle of love stories.

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**.:Rain:.**

It is a rainy day and when everyone else has scattered indoors to avoid the sky's tears, they meet on the beach with shy smiles because even they find it odd to find another who would be willing to endure such gloomy weather.

**.:One Night:.**

He's never had a one night stand before and when he wakes up, he'd expected an awkward morning; instead it leads to the most breathtaking creature he'd ever feasted his eyes upon and how damn lucky he was to have gotten her to sleep with him and hell…even get accepted to go on a date with; it becomes the one and only one night stand.

**.:Bar:.**

She hits on him at a bar, deciding for tonight she wanted to be fierce and crazy and hit on the guy she'd be eyeing; she never expected him to have been eyeing her as well.

**.:More than Dancing:.**

She dances and dances and it is all she knows, but another thing she's always known is that the strong arms that wrap around her aren't suffocating but protective and supporting and she knows that even when she stops dancing she'll always have her partner.

**.:Waiting:.**

They'd been best friends since childhood and it isn't until Aerith and Zack come into their bond that they realize the feelings that had been festering inside of them for _years_ now, but they're waiting still for the guts to admit it.

**.:Race:.**

Cloud dons his motorcycle helmet and smiles reassuringly to his leading lady as she tries to remain calm, when he zips off and crosses the finish line, it is she that cheers the loudest; he wouldn't have it any other way.

**.:Time:.**

They meet as teenagers at a party hosted by a common friend and they have plenty of time to talk while stuck in a closet for "7 Minutes in Heaven" to get to start a friendship.

**.:Wedding:.**

It was a little strange to be invited to your ex's wedding and even more strange to have met someone you'd eventually marry at said wedding.

**.:Cramped:.**

Tifa is his head nurse of his department which meant long late nights cramped in a tiny office doing paperwork which leads to backs against the walls and finally giving in to the years of flirting and sexual tension.

**.:Secretary:.**

She has to stop coming in wearing short skirts, she tells herself, but can't bring herself to stop for the look in his eyes each time she comes into big CEO Cloud's vision as she works as his only remaining secretary willing to withstand his demands.

**.:Flower shop:.**

Aerith always sent him to this flower shop and he had gone in for the memories it provoked when he started to miss her, he never noticed the true treasure behind the counter that only grew more beautiful as it aged that she'd been trying to make him see; after that Cloud goes to the flower shop for an entirely different reason.

**.:Bookstore:.**

She hadn't meant to run a book cart into him, she swears to this very day, but she thinks it's one of the best things she'd ever done because it snagged the attention of big hotshot Cloud Strife and someday, she had ended up dating him.

**.:Fears:.**

Tifa hates being alone and on one of her adventurous treks to get rid of her fear, she goes to see a horror movie by herself; she fails horribly because she begs the guy with crazy blonde hair in front of her on their way of purchasing their tickets, who is alone, to watch the movie with her.

**.:Summer holiday:.**

Cloud never could swim and being swept by a large wave at the beach is not his idea of having fun; what is fun is having a girl who is much smaller than him drag his ass to safety in a hot lifeguard bathing suit, he thanks her properly for saving his life with a date.

**.:Music note:.**

He can hear her struggling with a note but he still stays rooted to his spot listening to her siren song, so captivated by the memory of her voice he doesn't notice that the beautiful girl with ruby eyes and long raven black hair has trapped him effectively to her.

**.:Strife:.**

Tifa secretly watches him from the second floor window, watches as he swings his majestic practice sword around and she finds that his last name, Strife, fits him perfectly because he was the epitome of a resilient person and she wanted to be just like him.

**.:Taboo:.**

She's so sorry and she secretly hates herself but she can't stop loving him, loving him in a way that wasn't meant to be, she can't stop loving Cloud…her brother.

**.:Treasure:.**

Cloud thinks that she's the only treasure left in the world torn by greed and war and he clings to her and the promises they've made to make it through these tough times and _live._

**.:Prey:.**

He chases after her and licks his teeth in anticipation, she's the first one to have ever escaped from him and he delights in the chase; he catches her and sinks his teeth into her neck rejoicing in the sweet taste of her blood, Prince Cloud of the vampire world decides to keep his prey forever.

**.:Dear John:.**

Letters are the only way they can connect now and they are the only things that keep him afloat in battle, they tell him that these type of military relationships don't work out but he keeps the steadfast belief that Tifa and him will be the exception…it's Tifa after all.

**.:Social status:.**

He can't help it and he knows it is wrong and he knows he'll be killed for it if they're found out but when he sees her glowing face in pale moonlight, he can't bring himself to say no and to stop telling her he loves her because being her guard meant that he'd give his mind and body to her, and his heart was thrown into the package as well because the princess was too lovable.

**.:Spell:.**

Torn by the madness in his mind, he flees to the witch's house and there he finds sanctuary in the pale skin and midnight hair.

**.:Mourn:.**

She shivers as his calloused hands glided across the slopes of her torso and moans when he presses hot kisses to her neck but she mourns that at some point in the night, he will return to his wife and not her.

**.:Smug:.**

He listens to his friends talk about her and her body, he smiles into his wine glass, and when she comes over he holds her and tenderly kisses her on the temple and introduces her as Tifa Lockhart-Strife because he could see her past her curves and for everything she is and he gloats inwardly from their baffled expressions.

**.:Partner:.**

He helps her zip up and buckle her holster for the gun she's going to hide under her long skirt for their mission at the triad's party, she tells him that if they make it through five more missions together, she'll give him her heart that he's long been seeking.

**.:Arrangement:.**

She had gone from giving him the ugliest sneer she could fathom in the beginning of their honeymoon to giving him genuine smiles as they walk along the beaches of Hawaii and she wonders what's going to happen these first couple of months of their new marriage.

**.:Planning:.**

Tifa was the best wedding planner of the city and she'd heard all sorts of love stories that could make just about anyone cry or laugh and truly believe in love but she had never heard of a love story between the wedding planner and the groom; she's never even planned her own wedding and right about now, she feels screwed.

**.:Retail:.**

She shouldn't buy this, she really shouldn't; she can't even afford it right now after all the money she's spent on the last two stores and she seriously realizes at that point that she has a shopping problem and that the guy whose shyly convincing her to buy the silk scarf is SO DAMN CUTE and she just can't resist!

**.:First:.**

Cloud had been dreaming of her since he realized girls didn't have cooties and he first twines his fingers with hers during a firework show.

**.:Cold:.**

She was violently shivering and her teeth was shaking together, she strips off her wet clothes and leaves them stern about on the floor and launches herself into the warm bed, surprising its sleeping occupant, and digs into the warmth of naked golden skin and demands Cloud to hold her and keep her warm.

**.:Teach:.**

He clenches and unclenches his fists under the table as she leans forward and her long hair kept in a ponytail glides across his shoulder in a caress, he must resist pouncing on her until the tutoring session is over at least…

**.:Baby:.**

He stares at her and then her stomach in awe and she laughs.

**.:Ice:.**

Cloud takes an ice cube and slips it into her mouth and she groans and smacks him because he knows that ice and water invokes many fantasies for her, he replies with a knowing smirk.

**.:Gone:.**

She smiles at him and presses a kiss to his jaw and then his lips, you won't even notice I'm gone she tells him before she departs on the plane.

**.:Interview:.**

"Tell you what, if you pass the second 'interview', I'll think about giving you that kiss you wanted."

**.:Travel:.**

He flies all the way to Paris to get her favorite chocolate truffles and takes the train to London to go to her favorite lingerie store and embarks on a boat, despite his fear of drowning, in Venice to pick up a pair of shoes from her favorite store.

**.:Reverse:.**

A man buys the flowers but for once, she wanted to be the one giving flowers instead of receiving them and the priceless look on his face warms her heart.

**.:Beauty:.**

He'd drawn her in all sorts of ways with awe before but he is absolutely floored and breathless when she untangles the thin robe and lets it fall to her feet and lays on the bed with her attached wings spread around her…he finds excuses to make these drawing sessions longer.

**.:Envy:.**

From the moment Tifa Lockhart stepped into his office, he knew that she was going to be THE model everyone wanted, he didn't count on him being a part of that group.

**.:Snapshot:.**

She's his favorite subject for photographs and she flushes at the knowledge that his dark room is full of pictures of her, them, and their family.

**.:Inspire:.**

Tifa had been his inspiration to be a better person when he'd been holding guns and knives and stealing.

**.:Don't:.**

Don't go, don't go he pleads to her and clutches at her hand unmindful of how his tears stain her skin and he tries to ignore the flatline.

**.:Game:.**

They both cheer loudly with the crowd at the basketball game and walk out hand in hand.

**.:Headshot:.**

He watches her aim and press the button to pull the trigger and she effectively kills him, before he re-spawns he can't help but be amazed to find a girl who was cool with gaming and could even effectively kick his ass at it.

**.:Coffee:.**

She always knows exactly what he's going to order when he comes in through the door of the coffee shop she works at.

**.:Line:.**

Tifa doesn't know this but Cloud makes her "guess" what he wants at their favorite bakery shop, and the town's best which explains the long line they must endure to get their order, so that he can listen to her voice and find a good dessert from her list.

**.:Family:.**

Despite all the madness, he wouldn't trade his family for anything.

**.:Ring:.**

His hands are shaking as he slips the ring on her finger, he tells her it is from the cold breeze from the sea and she laughs and tells him she understands, because really she does because she knows it's not really from the sea.

**.:Ball:.**

The first time they've ever met, she had hit him in the head with a soccer ball.

**.:Same, Different…:.**

They had many differences such as him being an introvert and her an extrovert and many other things but they had their similarities and the two of them was perfection in each other's mind.

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**Author's Notes:** And it's all done! Some of them are really long sentences and others are short and some don't even seem grammatically correct but I hope you enjoyed! Please review!


	21. Emotions

**Author's Notes:** Muse has come to visit again. Still working on my 3 current on-going FF7 stories.

**Warnings: THE NEXT TWO CHAPTERS WILL BE FULL OF ANGST AND SLIGHT AEIRTH BASHING!**

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**Summary: None, I'd like for this chapter to speak for itself. This scene takes place during Advent Children when Cloud finds Tifa on the ground at the church. **

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Cloud had come to intimately know the faces of many emotions. Happiness had been the one he had been acquainted with the least. It was most prominent in the brief time of his childhood and re-appeared again like a long lost old beloved toy in glimpses in his adulthood. Pain had been his seared into his mind for his teenage years, his best friend.

Guilt rendered him handicapped in his young adult years. It clung heavily to his shoulders like dead weight and stuck its feet into the ground to prevent any moving on. Anger had held his sword with him, guiding him along in the days of being a hero lost. But regret? Regret hugged him tightly. Its whole body twisted itself around him, choking him with its presence.

With the death of his mom, he had barely reacted. Hell, he could barely remember.

With the death of Zack, he had screamed.

With the death of Aerith, he had shouldered guilt and looked on as she sunk down into the water.

And with the death of her, he had cried.

Cloud doesn't think he's ever cried before. Past his childhood years in which he would try to hold in angry tears of being left out, he had never cried for sorrow. But as he held her delicate fallen figure against his chest, he knows sorrow better than anything else.

When he finds no vibrations under his fingertips when he checks for a pulse, he knows regret. And then it is a whole onslaught of emotions. It is shock that blinds him and fury that shakes him. It is sorrow that screams inside of him and it is regret that rips him apart. Because he is too late. And as he cradles her closely to his body, as close as he had ever held her in his entire life, the knowledge sears himself into his head. He's been late before and the reminder bore onto a beautiful woman's chest and it always looked angry when he thinks about it.

And he is too late now when instead of the warmth he'd always dreamed about and a smile that he had always seen is voided out. There is no wrapping of her strong and slender arms around his neck. There is no pressing of her strong, lithe, beautiful body against his that lets him know that they're perfect for each other. There is no brush of soft lips against his neck. There is nothing but the coldness of death that has blemished her skin and the should've beens.

And for once, Cloud mourns. Mourns that he had traded living in a past for chances to make himself and Tifa immeasurably happy. To protect her. To love her. To cherish and hold her. To do everything he'd ever dreamed of as a kid.

When pain shoots across his arm and into his skull like a shooting star across a night sky, he doesn't fight it. Pain had been the most prominent in his life. It had been his best friend. It had sat on his shoulders and whispered into his ears and had been sealed across his body. It is almost comforting. And as he falls next to her silken shower of raven hair and flowers, he acknowledges that at least death had let him escape the responsibility of shielding her as he falls. And the pain and the blackness that is associated with it is welcomed because it provides escape because the bleakness of a bottomless black is comforting against the startling reality.

The reality that Tifa is no longer with him.

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**Author's notes:** I know massive updates but you guys should all be happy right? I know I haven't been fulfilling prompts lately but that's because I haven't had too much inspiration or knowledge on how to write to fulfill thoseprompts. I hope you've liked this chapter. Please review!


	22. Secrets

**Author's Notes:** So I ended up not making an Aerith bashing chapter. I lost the inspiration to do that. But here's another drama filled, angst chapter.

**Summary:** As a celebrity, part of his appeal is that he's single. What the rest of the world doesn't know is that he's no longer single. Newly married, Cloud finds bottomless joyin the love he feels. But as he struggles to keep his marriage a secret from the rest of the world while maintaining his reputation, there is nothing but strain on the girl who loves him.

* * *

"Don't go yet." She pleads. Her limbs clutch him tighter. His strong and long fingers stroke her bare back and his beautiful lips presses chaste kisses along her hairline.

"I have to, Tifa. You know that."

Her ruby eyes closes and she buries her pale face in the crook of his neck. She knows, all too well in fact. Tifa nods and her arms slip away from him.

The blonde haired man sighs and gets up from bed. He doesn't take a shower because he wants to be able to know that her smell is on him as he heads out for the night. Instead, the man picks up his tuxedo from the bag and prepares to get into it.

Tifa wraps a satin robe around herself and she fusses over him. He smiles at her as her fingers work along the buttons of his shirt. "Have fun tonight, Cloud." She tells him and he nods.

The car honks from outside. She smoothes his tux jacket. They walk down the stairs together, hand in hand. But at the doorway, she lingers back, careful to keep herself out of view at all angles. Cloud's hand reaches for the doorknob but thinks better of it. He turns to her and takes in her beauty. He tucks a raven lock behind her ear and kisses her.

He opens the doors and struggles not to look back. Then he is gone.

In an hour, Tifa would've been fresh out of the shower. She eats dinner on her own in a big house that must be kept dark so no one can see that a woman who is not Cloud's maid is inside. Then at eight at night, she will sit in front of the TV and watch the red carpet to a movie awards night.

"And there is Cloud Strife with his co-star Aerith Gainsborough! Hey Cloud, Aerith, over here!" The announcer for the night beckons them over.

Tifa must watch her husband hold another woman. He leans intimately over her and gives his devious smirk to the press when they ask if Cloud and his co-star were going out. It's good press, something to keep them interested in the two stars longer. She knows that he's not serious. But still watching him flirt with the pretty and feminine Aerith for all the world to see while she must remain his hidden spouse….

And she will fall asleep on the couch because she will be waiting for him. Because even after the rewards ceremony, there were plenty of after parties and things he had to do before he can come home to her. She loses herself to her dreams where they are memories of her small intimate wedding day at the beach on a Caribbean island where the only guests was Yuffie, an islander whom they befriended. And as she dreams, Cloud is out there with flashing cameras and smiling and laughing and drinking rich champagne.

It wasn't the married life Tifa had dreamed of as a kid.

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**Author's Notes: **There will be multiple parts to this. I didn't want to make a full fledged separate story because it's a lot more work than giving out bits and pieces of the story. But I really do hope you enjoy. Please feed my soul and review!


	23. All the Ifs1

**Author's notes:** This isn't like other "what if Tifa had the stigma" stories you've read before. I feel like most people would've had Tifa stayed if she contracted the stigma but to me, I see it differently. I try to leave out her name on purpose. It's supposed to be centered on her and even though I didn't write it from her direct POV, I thought it'd be better if I didn't talk ABOUT her.

**Full summary: **The physical black manifestation of disease and pain across her chest was nothing like the torrent inside her heart.

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She smiles when her heart is breaking. She smiles when she wants to cry. She laughs and pats heads when she wants to hold them close for any comfort they might offer. She cleans the bar like it is a normal day when she wants it to be day when she can finally rest, curl away from the world and bury herself under the blankets. She wants to pretend, pretend, pretend. Pretend that everything is okay, pretend that she is okay, and pretend the world isn't a horrible place to be in.

The days grow cold and she is thankful for that, even though Marlene and Denzel are not. Cold means less play time outside for them, despite the fact that there is no sunshine for them to soak up and no grass to lay down when they're tired. But cold means she can wear long sleeves to cover up the sickness that has bloomed from the darkest part of her heart and the internal torn scar tissues and onto her skin.

There is a mirror in front of her shower, even though she almost never looks at it. She knows what she will find when she gets out. But the unfamiliar flash of such a large blemish makes her stare. It starts from her chest, seemingly to have grown out from the long harsh line drawn by a madman, and it branches outward and up. It curls tiny lines with black dots, like a blooming tree branch, below her collarbone. It sails outward to her breasts. It races down and ends just before her third ribcage.

It was easy to brush off at first when it was a tiny seed to the right. A small bruise from her occasionally being clumsy. But it expanded like a weed and pain exploded from it like fireworks. Then…then she knew what it was.

Geostigma.

She weeps inside her mind even as her mouth is spilling lies. It won't be the first time she's spilled a lie to the children. But she has to ensure that there will be hope, a small sense of hope no matter how fake it is. Children should always be allowed to hope and she was never going to take it away so long as she's here with them.

Even if she won't be there for too long.

But it'll be okay. She'll make it okay.

She'll make them used to her not being there.

So she starts to weave an intricate lie. She buys the props for it and the insurance of never being caught with the lie.

It begins three months earlier. She goes about her days, even when the flashes of pain comes at her. She buries it in a deep part of herself, the one where she has always buried the unpleasant and painful things. Grits her teeth and bites it down, swallow the bitter taste in her mouth, and smile that damn smile that everyone just needs to see.

Her mind automatically starts to unravel the list in which this hole contains. Her lost home. Her lost young adulthood. Her love….when oh when was Cloud going to fall in love with her? Why was no one supporting her in anything she's done? Who was taking care of her?

Why can't anyone see that she's human too?

She takes care of the children and the man in the house, who is not really hers and not really a part of their lives but still at the same time, is. She cleans the home she wishes was bigger and nicer and more "homey". She mentions it in passing that there is a convention she wants to go to. A half truth because there was a convention but not something she wanted to go to.

Eventually she settles Marlene and Denzel in for a chat she's mapped out in her head. She's going to this convention. The convention requires her to do a lot of work and a lot of work meant a lot of time. She'll be staying there for at least two months. Even though the children seem hurt that they won't be going with her, she explains to them that they still have to go to school and won't be able to go with her, she argues with herself that they'll find a way to be okay again.

She talks over it with Cloud. He seems reluctant but eventually agrees. He'll take care of the kids, in turn with Barret and Shera. And with Shera comes Cid, of course. So she smiles and settles in on preparing for her journey.

She buys a ticket for them to all see. She's going to Rocket Town for the convention. It's a real ticket even if she won't be using it. Her real ticket is stashed in her luggage between folded clothes. She lets the kids give her a list of all the things they think she should do. The rides she should go on and the games she should play, the food she should try, and of course the toys they hope she'll win to return to them. She takes it all with a gracious smile even though her heart feels like it's bursting with love and pain and heartbrokenness.

Her first real genuine smile in months is when Cloud quietly hands her a new pair of leather gloves and a handful of materia. He offers her a ride to the station and even though she refuses, her heart warms from the ice fortress she has built to protect it. His powerful cobalt eyes soften when they stare at her in the next moment and she is captivated by their depths. They have a staring contest. But his mouth starts to move and her ruby eyes are drawn to the thin pink lips, chapped from the rushing winds he endures on his frequent trips, as they open and close and stretch to bring out softly spoken words.

"Be careful." He whispers. And in his gaze and in his voice, there is something wrapped in the thick of it that worms its way into her heart and sprinkles light in. Even though she doesn't know what that "something" is, she has a wild imagination and a ceaseless mind that wanders the possibilities.

She says she'll be leaving Monday morning, bright and early at the same time the kids will have to go to school. She'll walk them to school, she says.

But in the end, she sneaks out through her window silently like a bulgur at night and walks by herself with her hands fisted tightly against the strings of her duffle bag to the train station.

Last train to Corel.

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**Author's Notes: **It ends abruptly because there's more. It's an intricate type of chapter that I don't really want to put it all in one chapter. I'm afraid that it'll be too much of an overload. There's a lot of drama, a lot of feelings that I put in from Tifa's perspective, some from Cloud which will appear later, and etc. But I hoped you all liked it so far. There shall be more soon!


	24. Immortalizing

**Author's Notes:** After reading **mom calling**'s review, in which she tells me that I mark my story as romance but has had a heap of angst, I've decided to write a romantic fluff drabble. It's inspired by a real life event that occurred some time ago with my boyfriend. I wanted to share it with you. =].

AU chapter just to keep it in line with what really happened. =] First POV.

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**Summary:** And she wishes to capture this one moment in something material. A picture, a video, something that would have captured this fleeting time that was so important and special to her. But her hands are not grasping such a tool and so she writes it into her mind and her heart.

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I had spent last night with Cloud. It was enjoyable but sometimes it was getting old. Old because I've spent many weekends over his place and not many when it was the other way around. I had been planning on staying just that one night before heading back to my own dorm, however lonely it might be. Part of me doesn't want to go back. After all, my happiest place is when Cloud is somewhere in it.

But as the day grew dark and I have yet to leave, I find myself debating with myself whether or not to stay another night. Zack, Cloud's roommate was gone as per usual, and the room would be ours for the night. But did I feel like it?

I distracted myself by playing volleyball. I play until bruises form on the skin of my wrists and the day has disappeared. The cold chills me, sinking its vicious claws and teeth into the skin I've left naked for the sun's eyes to graze. I head back to Cloud's room, where he's been sitting inside all day. I'm not really sure what he had been doing all day but all I know is that I miss him.

I pull my hair down from the high ponytail I had pulled it into to avoid it getting in my way of playing. I smooth my hair and clothes down. I take a peek at myself in the window's reflection and head back into the building. I'm thankful that no one comes out in the hall that I might know. The only thing I have in mind is Cloud.

I knock on his door and wait. From the other side of the door I hear shuffling of seats and the creak of the bed mattress the college has provided us with. I wonder if he's been sleeping. He opens his door and the way his hair is messier than usual tells me he's been sleeping. He pulls me in, sleepily with a hug. But still, his hugs are warm against my chilled skin and it just feels right being there. He presses a kiss against my temple.

I giggle because I love how affectionate he is when he's newly awakened. It as if the dark parts of the world hasn't touched his heart and soul and he is free to love me without reservation.

I happily press a kiss back to him. It is then I make my choice.

"How was volleyball?" He mummers.

I smile up at him, staring at his eyes. "It was fun! I kind of suck at volleyball though."

Cloud doesn't say anything. Simply enfolds me back into his arms with my head tucked under his chin. So I take the chance to say something.

"I think I'm going to stay over again."

He pulls away. For the briefest second, I think he's unhappy that I've said that. But when I look at his face, I know there's nothing to fear.

His electric blue eyes brighten and he gives me a bright smile. My heart melts. He boyishly asks really, in a shy voice that makes me feel warm and my toes curl. He's so beautiful. I nod and he says yay before picking me up and spinning me around.

When he puts me down, he takes my hand and coaxes me to lying down in bed with him. He holds me against his chest and we get comfortable. I let all of his warmth seep into me. Perfection.

"Tifa?"

Hm? I'm getting sleepy now too…

"I love you."

My heart explodes. I look at him and my breath is taken away. The golden dim light above us turns his pale face golden. His eyes, always so expressive, beam with his emotions. His face looks so warm, so beautiful chiseled. His lips are curled in that small and timid smile I adore. Suddenly I wish I had a camera, something to capture that perfect beautiful moment. But there is nothing and I desperately try to hold the image in my mind.

There's nothing I can do but kiss him. I know this will never leave me.

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**Author's Notes:** And I still remember it =]. I guess this would be my way of "immortalizing" it.


	25. Flowers

A knock comes on the heavy wooden door. One of the men rolls his eyes at the "Will someone get that! I'm still getting ready!" shout that comes from one of the bedroom as he leaves the couch and opens the door for the stranger. His dark eyebrows raise at the man before him.

Despite the fact that the man before him was dressed in a stylish grey suit, holding flowers in his hands, Zack can't help but think that this man still oozed sleazy. "Hello, I'm Steven. You must be Zack." He says. There is something in his voice that says that he is confident that he knows everything, as if by getting his name right, he knows Zack's entire life story. Zack inwardly scoffs. 'Must be a prick.'

"Zack." He tells the man. His blue eyes look down at the flowers. He then looks at the other occupant of the living room, who despite the fact that his eyes are focused on the TV mounted to the wall, Zack knows that he is not really watching the game. "That's Cloud." Zack gestures to the blonde man.

Cloud turns brutally cold eyes to Steven. His eyes take Steven's features. Tan skin, long angular jaw, dark brown hair, and stunning emerald eyes with a medium muscular build concealed in a well designed suit. He then looks at the flowers held in Steven's left hand.

"You got the wrong flowers." Cloud says in a monotone voice.

Steven blinks. He holds the flowers up questioningly, as if he suddenly seemed confused that he had flowers in his hands at all. "I thought all girls liked roses."

"Tifa isn't your regular girl." Cloud says. Zack can sense that there is a hidden threat in his buddy's voice.

Before anything else is said, Tifa comes out of her room. Three male eyes swing to her direction. She is distracted as she tries to stuff things in her purse. She does give a brief glance to Steve and greets him brightly in a way that makes the other two men clench their fists behind their backs so she wouldn't see.

"I see you've met my roommates! I'm sorry I'm running a little late! I just couldn't figure out what to wear! What do you think?" And as Tifa says this, she does a little twirl, her eyes entirely on Steven. Her knee length blue dress raises tantalizing in her spin and then drops back down.

Cloud's nostrils flares. Zack looks away. Steven swallows, mouth dry.

"I think you look stunning. Here, these are for you." Steven steps past Zack to hand her the flowers.

From his position behind Steven, on the couch, Cloud sees Tifa's ruby eyes drop down to the red blooms. Cloud can tell that she isn't completely happy with what she sees despite the bright smile she gives to Steven.

"Thank you." Tifa says politely. However Steven takes her smile as meaning that she loves the flowers. As the two leave the apartment, after he takes Tfia's hand, he sends Cloud a smug look. Tifa leaves the flowers on the table next to the door, where they normally drop their keys in a strawberry shaped bowl. The couple leaves and Zack sits down next to Cloud.

"She didn't put her flowers in a vase before she left." He said, staring at the flowers in their wrapping.

"That's because she doesn't like red roses." The blonde says.

"Are you sure you're okay with this, buddy? Her on a date?"

Cloud only answers with a stiff nod. He pretends to watch the game for only five minutes before he proclaims that he needs to go out and run errands. Zack looks on as his best friend leaves the apartment the three of them share with a shake of his head. Cloud could be such an idiot sometimes.

Hours later, Tifa comes back to the apartment with a slam of the front door. Cloud is in the living room, reading a book. He looks up at her when she walks in.

"Is Zack here?" She could use his comfort right now.

The blonde shook his head. "He's out with Aerith." Tifa deflates. She shuffles her feet. There is an awkward silence and then she looks into his steely blue eyes with such emotion that Cloud acts on instinct.

He holds out his hand to her, palm up, from his position on the couch. Tifa doesn't hesitate. She rushes towards him and the moment she slides her hand into his, he pulls her against him. They sit together on the couch, thighs touching and arms wrapped around each other.

She hugs him tightly. "Why do you make me do this?" She whispers as the first tears come out.

"Did he hurt you?" He asks, dodging the question. He tenses, waiting for her answer. If it is a yes, he'll go after him right now. He'll slaughter him, piece by piece, for every millisecond of pain Tifa might've suffered in that man's presence.

She shakes her head. "Not as much as I've hurt him. Just another…another man."

He closes his eyes and hugs her tighter. Knowing exactly what she means. Another man who sees just her body, her curves and can't think beyond her flesh and a possible night with that body. They probably nod dumbly to the words she says. They must spend each moment in her presence figuring out discreet ways for their eyes to stare at her chest.

"Why did you let me go, Cloud? Why do you make me date these other guys? Why?" She wails as the tears burst free. "Aren't I good enough, Cloud? Don't you love me?"

"You deserve better." He whispers in her hair.

"I want you! If I deserve better, don't I at least deserve what I want?" She asks desperately, fingers clenching into his dark blue dress shirt.

Cloud pulls back. He doesn't want to answer these questions, doesn't want to think about what those words do to him. For him, he'll never be good enough. She'll always deserve better, some kind of prince that could take care of her and make her happy. Someone who was somebody important. He's just a Second Class SOLDIER. Second class when she deserves someone First Class.

His hands gently brush her tear tracks. "One day…one day you'll find that person who deserves you."

She smiles gently and her eyes are so full of love that his heart clenches painfully. Someday, she'd never look at him like that again. She'll only share those looks with someone else, someone who wouldn't be him. But he can't be selfish. Even though he wants her more than anything, he knows she deserves better. And he isn't it. He won't be selfish by keeping her tied to him when she could have better.

"And one day, you'll realize that the only person I'm willing to love and give myself to is you."

Cloud says nothing. He leans forward and kisses her on the forehead. As he stands up, he reaches behind him. His fingers hold the object gently and he presses them into her hand.

"He got you the wrong flowers." And he leaves for his bedroom and closes the door quietly, leaving her in the darkness of the living room alone.

She smiles as she fingers the long white petals of a single white lily.

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**Author's Notes: **I haven't written in so long! I'm on winter break and my days are long and full of mundane empty things. I figured that writing would give meaning to my days again. I hope you enjoyed it!


	26. Flowers2

She barges into his room as if she had a right to. His lightening eyes turned to her in shock. She slams his bedroom door close; thankfully Zack isn't home to be witness to this moment.

Even if it's a moment he's been hoping would happen sooner!

She drops her lily by his bedside and before Cloud could even say anything, Tifa kneels between his legs on the floor, grabs his cheeks, and gives him a kiss. And it wasn't just any kiss, not just a peck. It was like the kiss of life. It was breathtaking and so fulfilling at the same time. He let out a painful whimper, as if emotions she poured into him were hurting his heart.

She pulled away to look at his eyes before she reinitiated a kiss. Cloud's eyes closed and kissed back. He forgets that for the past year, he has been pushing her away. All he thinks is how good she feels, how much he's missed this, and how **complete** he feels. It was as if the past year, he'd been living in a nightmare where he had become hallow and he was finally just waking up.

Cloud kissed back, all those lonely nights and fantasies where he pretended that he was at this moment is poured into that kiss. However, the moment he gives in, is the moment he remembers why he had been in that nightmare to begin with. With a sharp intake of breath, he pulls back.

His bright blue eyes are wide as they stare at her. Tifa's eyes look back in shock but then, as if she is reading his thoughts from the look in his eyes, her eyes narrow. Cloud's swollen lips open, he draws in breath…

"No matter who I date, anyone who isn't you, will always get me the wrong flowers." Tifa interrupts.

Cloud shakes his head and before he can even think of a rebuttal, Tifa continues.

"No matter whose offer I'll accept, all of them will take one look at my chest and ass and they'll continue to look even when they think I'm not looking. They'll always think that after one date, I'll get into bed with them. I'm the type that will fulfill all their sexual fantasy. They would never take me home to meet the parents, I'm just arm candy to show off in front of their friends. I'm the girl who can always be thrown away."

"You could never be that." He says. His hands cupping her cheeks. In that tender touch, her vulnerability floods her face. Her eyes grow glassy.

"I'll always be that, to almost every man."

"You're not that to me."

Her hands hold his as his thumb pushes away the stray tear that managed to slip down. "And that's why I love you, because you see me for me."

"But-"

"Please, Cloud!" The desperate tone in her voice renders him speechless. "Please! I don't want anyone else. I just want you! I only want to love you! Now cut that bullshit of you not being good enough for me when you're the only one I want!"

Her eyes harden before his blue. She pulls away from him and for a moment, he thinks she is going to leave. That would be good, he thinks, if she leaves it'll give him time to recover. However, in the most shocking move Tifa's done since barging into his room, she surprises him once again.

Her nimble fingers pull apart the buttons of her dress and in heartbeats, she is bare before him. Her hands reach out for him. "If you tell me right now, that you don't see me past my body and my looks, I'll never come back. I'll go for the first guy you tell me is good enough for me, the one who isn't you. And I'll give him everything. Right now, Cloud, if you can tell me that you don't love me and can only see me this way, I'll do it. It'll be over."

Tifa stands very still, frozen. She makes no further motion and says nothing else. She simply waits and time seems to stretch on. When Cloud stands up from his position on the bed, her heart accelerates. Her mind races: Is he going to tell me no? Is he finally going to tell me he loves me? Oh please, please, please, Cloud….

She swallows, she tries to calm herself. She starts to shake as her mind continues to race. His movements seem so slow! Can't he hurry up? Can't he tell her an answer so the pain of waiting will be over?

And suddenly, with a rush of excitement, Cloud's arms enclose her. As the shock travels through her system, he pulls away and with a loving look, he kisses her. She cries into his mouth and the taste of her tears come over their lips. He pulls away and envelopes her in his arms.

"I love you."

YES!

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**Author's Notes: **The end!


	27. Crashing and Crashing

Author's Notes: Inspired and honestly, from my own experience.

This story was also published under another fandom but I wrote it so that it can fit anywhere. Enjoy.

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she holds onto the memories of earlier even as she sinks into the softness. files them away to be retrieved over and over again on lonely nights.

she is trapped and she wants to remain. she's trying to hold tightly onto the reins of her control but each touch kiss and movement startles her. he nips at her and it is like lightning in a storm. he does things to her that she hasn't felt before. she wants to cling and cling and she struggles not to hold onto him. she clutches the sheets, tries to find an anchor in the thin woven threads as his mouth speaks to her without ever forming a word. her eyes are open but they can not see. he slips his fingers and they curl and she lashes out a cry in the silence.

she loses the fight and finds his hands. she's gasping, struggling to breathe against this little death that is slowly but surely coming, she can see it. he keeps his eyes sheathed as he devours her but turns his hand around to grasp hers more firmly, sating her compulsive need. she's struggling, torn between shying away and pressing deeper. she wants to end the torture end but at the same time, the climb is so refreshing she wants to remain high in the sky.

she explodes when her mind strays, the little death slashing at her body. wanting to press away from the intensity as she shakes around him but can't escape his hold as he continues singing her a song. she can hear his jaw crack once or twice in his efforts and her heart races. and just as quickly as the first explosion goes off, another begins.

she wants to hurt him. she wants to dig her fingers inside of him and she wants to leave marks, deep and fresh and lasting so that he could see them and remember her. instead, her fingers tug at his face and she wants to breathe him in. that maddening second he takes to wipe away the applause of his song is too long and she kisses him deeply. she wants to taste him and he moans for once in her mouth. she wants to hear it again and again. wants to tear at his control and his needs. she wants to take and take because giving is a struggle when you are selfish.

she feels violent and she tries to quell it. she tries to distract herself from the violence brewing inside of her by pressing kisses to him, anywhere she could reach. they are heady and they are strained from the passionate flame growing stronger in her belly. he takes it away from her by slipping inside. she is shocked and there is so much pleasure she wants to explode again but finds there hasn't been enough height. he moves and she is so baffled that she loses herself in the torrent of sensation. so little control where she wants to gain and yet she is helpless. her mind whispers, it is not so bad to be so helpless so long as it's in his arms.

the pressure is suffocating. she can't remember if it ever felt like this before. and she crashes again in the tidal waves that he has brought. she feels nothing yet everything. his hips still moving, his arms by her side shaking in their struggle not to crush her with his weight, and his breathing by her ear like music. after her third quake, she is wondering why he's still in control. and her violence comes again. she wants his loss just as badly as she wanted to lose herself in him. and she tightens herself and her resolve. and in a few heartbeats, he explodes and he groans and he smiles. the happiness is the best and even when he crushes her, she feels the warmth.

and later, when he reaches for her and they curl together, she smiles with her face pressed against his heart. he said we wouldn't cuddle after and yet he has reached for her. his arms curls around her and his large hand settles by her ribcage and she finds herself fascinated by how warm his hand is. they are silent and they both listen to each other's breaths as they slow. and when he starts to snore, she waits and waits until there have been enough that his hand slacks in his hold of her. and she slips slowly out of his arms and warmth, careful not to jostle him too much. she keeps her eyes on his face, trying to memorize how he looks but knowing she is incapable of it.

and she dresses and slips away like a shadow when day comes. she looks back once to see him still and thinks of how lonely he must look with the space where she was void. and she briefly wonders, as she slips in her car and drives off, if he'll be saddened to not wake up to her.


	28. She is the only consistent company

she is the only consistent company he keeps. and the climb is always the same. it's teasing and light and full of her laughter.

his hands first loop around her waist, settling until his fingers can graze the hip bone that punctures out. he slowly shifts them both so that their sides are touching and he knows she becomes aware of his body close to hers. she can't resist him, as much as he can't resist her. he leans down and nips at her shoulder, taking care to never bite down too hard. the first and last time he pinched the skin too hard, her eyes shone with unshed tears. he spent the night making up for it despite her forgiveness. today and every moment after the first, she giggles and teasingly bites him back. he scolds her and she never takes him seriously. only smiles and bites again. this is the beginning of the slow seduction they'd partake. he takes care to never rush this part. the way her eyes light up tells him that this is her favorite part and he'd like to spoil her with this if he can. sometimes it is not as long as others but he knows that she appreciates any length.

next, he lays her down. sometimes, he rests his head on her body. she'll envelop him in her arms. he enjoys the comfort of her supple skin against his. others, he'll have her rest on him. he always takes care to ensure her comfort and that he can always reach a place to bite or kiss if he so pleases. later, when he wants to make the next step, he tickles her. she's not ticklish through traditional means. she is ticklish in an intimate way that ensures no one else could easily find it. this is his way of seeing if she'd accept the next step. when his lips brush against his ear and he breathes into the hollow of her ear, she giggles and shudders. that's his favorite. her eyes hold mischief when they look at him.

they kiss, it always starts slow. he prods to see if she'd want more. sometimes, she becomes shy and he coaxes her out with more kisses. he'll hold her hand or her head and deepen them. when he feels her relax into his hold, he knows she's okay. he always seduces her slowly, teasing her by fingering the edge of her clothes or her intimate places. when she wriggles closer, he slips his hands under.

when he slips into her later, he always takes the time to ask if she's okay. when she smiles, he knows to continue. he always makes her come first because seeing her come off swells his pride. when they finish, he holds her because she likes it. she gives him a sleepy smile and they talk. they go silent and slip away into sleep.

it isn't the same with other girls. he doesn't slowly flirt and seduce. he just does. and somehow, it doesn't feel the same. the moans don't sound the same but they are still enjoyable. their mouths don't kiss the way he wants them to. and their lips don't go down the way he's told her. he just wants to take and take and maybe that's why it doesn't feel as right. he finds that they're not limber enough to handle what he wants. and when they finish, she doesn't curl into him. he feels lost. "i like listening to your heart beat" her voice whispers through his mind. he ignores it and reaches for this girl and curls onto her. when she doesnt object, he stays. still, their limbs don't fall into place. he doesn't want to move too much in case he jostles her and annoys this girl.

he wonders if the constant of him wanting her and her constant acceptance of his want and usage means he'd someday fall for her. he takes comfort in that she'd always be around but he also wonder if she would want more. he feels a little fearful but he can't tell if it's because she'd want more from him or because he wants her to want more.

but he remembers what she said to him: you made me promise not to like you. i'm going to keep that promise. and he knows she keeps it because it makes him more comfortable. he knows she'd make the friendship work however she can, for that, he continues to make the effort to be her friend the way he imagines she'd like.

maybe someday, when he can gather the courage, he'd like to retract his promise. for now, as he shifts through the night, he fights not to text her. he doesn't want to want her when he's had someone else. he doesn't have to tell her but he does this because he respects her. they never made agreements to this arrangement but he thinks it is unspoken that he doesn't go to when he's had another for the night. there are many unspoken things between them about this arrangement but he'd like to keep it so that she can't become hurt. he doesn't want to be an asshole because she's so genuine in her friendship, despite using each other's bodies. so he slips into sleep and mentally makes plans in his head for the next time he can be with her.

* * *

**Author's notes: **It's prose format, hence why there's not a lot of capitalization. I feel like in that kind of method, it captures the feelings better. You can interpret it any way you'd like. Enjoy!


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